


The Knight and The Fairy

by lummianttrash



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M, OtaYuri Week, OtaYuri Week 2017, i'll add more tags as i go on, whoops i never did
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2018-09-27 02:35:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 71,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9946415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lummianttrash/pseuds/lummianttrash
Summary: Even if he was young for a fae, Yuri Plisetsky had still encountered his fair share of naive, bumbling idiots declaring themselves to be knights. This knight, though... he didn't seem as stupid as the rest. And Yuri could never have predicted what meeting him would entail.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Me: Your semester is crazy and you have no time. 
> 
> Also me: Write an otayuri fic go go go.

Knights were fucking annoying.

 

They were bad mannered, cowardly, and arrogant. Their armour made loud clanky noises and woke Yuri up when he was sleeping, they spoke in voices so loud Yuri swore he would one day go deaf, and their breaths usually smelled like salmon and dirt.

 

Honestly, it was a fucking miracle that any of them managed to get as far in their Quests as encountering a fae. Getting a Quest with their kind of brains was impressive enough. Fucking hell, Yuri was surprised that they even became knights. Maybe being dimwitted was a requirement for the job.

 

But that didn't mean Yuri was impressed. Or inclined to let them get any further when they met him.

 

“Behold!” Bellowed the latest idiot that Yuri was cursed with the presence of. Said man was somehow wearing two breastplates at the same time (?) and no helmet (??). He reached for the side of his body where his sword was strapped, drawing a bulky, out-of-date weapon from its sheath. It was also rusting.

 

Yuri wanted to throw himself off a cliff, but settled for putting his hands over his ears instead.

 

(Whoever wrote the law that guardian fae had to listen to Questers before killing them needed to _die._ )

 

“My sword!” The man continued screaming as if he wanted to be heard on the other end of the world. Beneath him, the knight’s horse swung its head angrily. “The one and only! Steel Blade!”

 

_I feel for you, horse._

 

“And I! Am! The one and only! Stefan Dechant!”

 

 _You can’t kill him now,_ Yuri reminded himself, with his hands still over his ears. _You can’t kill him you can’t kill him don’t kill him goddammit_ \- Stefan’s horse shook it’s head again, this time trying to take a bite out of Yuri’s wings. Just like that, the last of his sympathy died.

 

(Yuri decided then and there that the man would die a slow, painful death for exposing Yuri to this sort of torture, laws be damned.)

 

“I am Yuri Plisetsky.” The introduction required to greet Questers was ridiculously dramatic, but centuries of uttering it had made it a permanent fixture in his brain. Yuri lowered his hands and tried to look imposing. “Guardian fae of this Great River, my home and my spirit, the place which you wish to trespass upon for the purpose of your Quest. Quester Stefan Dechant, what makes you think you’re worthy of my forgiveness and my blessing?”

 

 _Say nothing,_ Yuri thought. _Say nothing, or better yet, ask me to beat you up because I’ll gladly do it._

 

Of course, the knight did not do that.

 

“Well! You see! I am on a Quest!”

 

“Yes, we established that,” Yuri all but snarled, his patience wearing thin. Not that he had much to begin with. “Get on with it.”

 

The knight looked shocked for a second, almost frightened, as if he’d thought that the stories he’d heard as a child about what fae would do in their fury would somehow not apply to him, like he was a special snowflake who could do no wrong.

 

(Ha.)

 

“Well!” The knight still yelled, but it was quieter, wary. “I am! Um!”

 

A pause, as Stefan tried to think. It looked very painful. “I am… doing something very important!”

 

“Over there!” He added hastily, assuming (correctly) that Yuri’s glare meant that answer was shit. The knight pointed to the forest beyond Yuri’s river. “I need to go over there!”

 

_You and every other knight that’s come by._

 

“Is that all?”

 

“Um,” Now the knight had gone oddly quiet, which made Yuri tense -something was going in his favour? Suspicious. Where was the catch?

 

“No, actually, I still have something to say.”

 

Ah. There it was.

 

“You see,” The knight said, “I heard a rumour the other day, about the Guardian of this particular river-”

 

Yuri felt his insides go cold.

 

“And would like to know if it’s true, that the-”

 

“Oh.” His voice was louder than it should have been. “That. I see.”

 

The knight smiled, so confident it didn’t occur to him that things might not go his way.

 

“I’m rather disappointed that that seems to be the only rumour you’ve heard, however,” Yuri said. “I had hoped by now that more people would have realized I’m not very patient.”

 

“I do not appreciate being bothered by a _pest,_ ” Yuri continued, and used his magic to fling Stefan into a tree.

 

For a split second, Stefan’s face was shocked, comically so, with stereotypically wide eyes and an open jaw. Then his body hit the trunk of the tree with a resounding _thump_ and he flipped forwards, face smashing onto the ground and obstructing his expression from Yuri’s view. His horse had long since galloped off, but Yuri flicked his hand and summoned the animal, which was whinnying panickedly, back to the tree. Another flick of his hand and Stefan was magically bound to his horse. The second Yuri let them go, the two of them were out of there faster than you could say _cowards._

 

Yuri rolled his eyes. Well, that had been boring.

 

(As expected.)

 

And with that last thought in his head, he curled up in his favourite spot under the tree and fell asleep.

 

_Clang. Clang. Clang._

 

Yuri turned over and groaned, already starting to feel a headache develop from the irritating noise that had woken him up. For a second, he contemplated staying in bed just a while longer (the idea was very, very inviting). Then Yuri sighed and hoisted himself up, because as much as he wanted to sleep he’d rather suffer from a million headaches then let one of those metal-clad nuisances see him napping.

 

And it was a good thing he stood when he did, because a second later the knight came into eyeshot. Yuri crossed his arms and waited for the knight to approach. This one, at least, had his armour done up properly -a small miracle- but what really caught Yuri’s attention was the complete lack of shouting. His wings fluttered slightly.

 

“I am Yuri Plisetsky. Guardian fae of this Great River, my home and my spirit, the place which you wish to trespass upon for the purpose of your Quest.” Yuri declared when the knight drew close, all while eyeing the horse warily. He was not going to forget the incident with Stefan’s horse for a while (he liked his wings, thank you very much). Yuri was completely ready to blast this equestrian and it's owner to kingdom-fucking-come if it tried to attempt a repeat performance. But it stayed put. Good.

 

Yuri's wings fluttered again. "And you are?"

 

"Otabek Altin," The man said. "From the Kingdom of Agape. And don’t worry, Serik is well-behaved.”

 

 _I’m sorry, what?_ “Serik?”

 

“He’s very well trained,” The knight said, misunderstanding the confusion in Yuri’s voice. But the statement made the situation clearer regardless. Yuri wasn’t sure what to make of the fact that this knight named his horse or any of the implications that came with it -most people Yuri met did not, because they felt like as something they owned, horses were more object than person.

 

(He told himself it didn’t matter, because the man was a knight and all knights were the same.)

 

“The behaviour of your horse is of no concern to me,” Yuri replied coldly, and then just a touch colder still he said, “Quester Otabek Altin, what makes you think you’re worthy of my forgiveness and my blessing?”

 

Otabek met his eyes, and Yuri was surprised by the sheer amount of determination in them. Though in reality they were probably some shade of umber brown, in the bright afternoon light they looked lighter, with more of a reddish hue. It made him think of the earth, strong and steady and unmovable, as Otabek’s gaze held unflinchingly against his own.

 

“Are you going to answer me, knight?” He snapped, resisting the urge to shake his head to clear his thoughts. No need to show weakness.

 

"Why did you ask for my name, if you aren't going to use it?" Otabek asked, and Yuri was torn between being annoyed at having his question ignored and pleased to find that the knight sounded somewhat exasperated. Yuri took great pleasure in annoying knights.

 

"Procedure," Yuri said stiffly. "All faes have to follow 'The Questers Protocol' when it comes to your kind."

 

Otabek raised an eyebrow, and for a second, Yuri thought the man looked just a little impressed. Then the second passed and the knight’s face was stoic once more, leaving him to wonder if he’d imagined it. "There's a protocol?"

 

"Unfortunately."

 

"Damn," The man muttered, and yes, there was definitely emotion on his face that time- just a bit, but it was there. Slightly widened eyes, a bit of pity in his voice- _surprise._ "That seems pretty strict. There's no real protocol for Questing, just a general outline of 'go out and get the job done'."

 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” The words slipped out of his mouth before Yuri could think. “Fucking hell, this explains so many things!”

 

Centuries worth of dirt and salmon smelling buffoons came to mind, and Yuri groaned. “No wonder all you motherfuckers are so incompetent! Do humans have no sense of organization?”

 

Otabek said nothing, but stared at him with a blank expression. Yuri realized, a little too late, that this was definitely not what he should be doing.

 

“Er,” Yuri said, trying to regain his composure. “That is… you were giving me your reason?”

 

“Of course,” The blank expression morphed into something like amusement, “Fae of the Great River, it’s my understanding that you do not think I am worthy of your blessing to pass safely.”

 

“True,” Yuri said, seeing no reason to sugarcoat his words.

 

“And I doubt much of what I could say could convince you that I am.”

 

“Also true,” Yuri said, but now he was wary -where was the knight going with this self deprecation? Surely he wouldn’t just say he wasn’t worthy and leave?

 

“Then please, I ask for a chance to prove myself,” Otabek said. “To convince you that I should have your blessing and that I should cross your river. More specifically, I ask for a riddle.”

 

“A riddle,” said Yuri, not quite sure this was happening. A knight who was willing to think? Impossible. He kept his face devoid of emotion, but his mind was whirling. Truth be told, even if Otabek hadn’t specifically asked for a riddle, it would have been his first choice. Many knights relied solely on brute strength and destruction to get their way. They didn’t have an ounce of common sense, which made tricking them easy. But-

 

(But there _was_ a knight who was smooth with his words, remember?)

 

-surely this knight could not be any different. He was merely cocky and overconfident that nothing could stop him. Yuri would have fun trouncing this ‘Otabek’ just like he’d trounced every person who crossed his path, like he’d trounced Stefan Dechant earlier.

 

“Very well,” said Yuri. “I will give you a riddle, and if you can solve it, then I will let you cross. If not, then I’m allowed to do as I please.”

 

Otabek was definitely stupid, Yuri decided, because he didn’t run for the hills at that statement. “Agreed.”

 

Yuri took a breath and scanned his memory for a riddle that would be difficult enough. Under no circumstances did he believe that the knight could beat him, but it would be fun watching him struggle. Yuri’s grandfather used to tell him riddles when he was younger, and he flipped mental pages in his head, scouring for the one that would give him optimal chances of winning their deal. He settled for a particularly difficult one that’d taken him ages to solve when he was younger.

 

“You have eight potion bottles,” Yuri said, “They are all the same size and colour, but one is poisonous while the others aren’t. The poisonous one weighs slightly more than the others do. You have a scale that you can only use twice. How do you find the potion with poison?”

 

Yuri stifled the urge to smirk. Otabek stared into the distance, brow furrowed slightly like he was trying to think. It was the quietest a knight had ever been. Yuri sighed, knowing he should probably savour this experience, enjoy it while he could. This opportunity would definitely not come again for centuries, at least. But no matter, with the riddle Yuri gave him, it would be ages before Otabek came up with the answer-

 

“I’ve got the answer,” Otabek said.  

 

Yuri stiffened, shocked, but he didn’t have a chance to speak before the knight was continuing. “First, you take any six bottles and divide them into two groups of three each; if the two groups weigh out evenly, you weigh the remaining two bottles to find the poisoned one. If the two groups of three do not weigh out evenly, then take two of the three bottles from the heavier scale and weigh them. The two will either weigh the same, in which case the remaining potion is the poisoned one, or one of the two pills on the scale will weigh more.”

 

He said this all in a matter-of-fact tone that made Yuri want to set the bastard on fire. Or at least punch him.

 

“That is… correct,” Yuri said, with a smile so vicious it was a snarl. His next words were icy. “You are permitted to cross the river.”

 

 _You outsmarted me_ , was what he didn’t want to say. But he didn’t need to.

 

Otabek swung back onto his horse, and brought the creature to the river’s edge, expectant. Yuri grit his teeth and briefly entertained the thought of drowning them both before he waved his hand in what he hoped was a dismissive gesture.

 

On cue, the water from his river surged up to form a perfectly constructed arch bridge. It rippled for a second, and then the liquid smoothed over, solidifying into something stable enough for humans to walk on. And if Yuri made it grander and fancier than he usually did to impress the knight, well that was nobody’s business but his own.

 

“Have a nice day,” Otabek said, and he cantered over the bridge Yuri had made.

 

He was gone in seconds.

 

It was weird, Yuri thought, as he stared at the place where the knight had been mere moments before, that this was so oddly similar to what he was used to -knights leaving- and yet so different at the same time. Knowing that the knight had continued on his Quest instead of being defeated… it made Yuri’s wings flutter with an emotion that he didn’t want to name, it made an ugly feeling swell in his belly, it made him think about the last time he’d stared at a departing knight….

 

Yuri clenched his fists and resolved not to think about this moment ever again.

 

(That night, he thought about it again.)

 

Which was perfectly reasonable, he told himself, because there would be backlash from it -it being the knight’s survival. Though fae were technically required to hear knights out and give them leniency, it was a last resort. Fae took great pleasure in turning humans down when they needed help, in tricking them. After so long with a clean record, a record he’d worked hard to maintain no less, it was irritating to see it go. Anyone would be angry.

 

(But it didn’t make the thoughts of the knight go away.)

 

The first week, he told himself he didn’t care. He slept, he ate, he went about on his day as if nothing had happened -but that itself was a problem, because it _had_ happened, this knight in black armour had managed to STOP THINKING ABOUT THIS, YURI.

 

The second week, Yuri spoiled himself as a means of distraction. He tried to sleep in, he manipulated the river into funny shapes, and brainstormed new ways to annoy knights. That was also useless. It was hard to sleep when you wanted to strangle someone. Manipulating the river just reminded him of the last time he had to do so. And irritatingly enough, there had been no more Questers since Otabek, so even if he daydreamed all he wanted there would be no point.

 

Even more irritating was the fact that any other time, Yuri would have given an arm and a leg to be undisturbed. Now, it was fucking unbearable. _What he wouldn’t give for a rematch._

 

The third week, Yuri stopped pretending he was unimpressed. Sure, he was also furious and frustrated, but he’d have to be a new level of petty to not admit that the victory was rightly won. As much as he’d inwardly rambled on about the knight’s arrogance, it was him who had really been overconfident. The knight had known that. Yuri knew it too late.

 

But when he got a second chance, and Yuri refused to believe he wouldn’t get a second chance, he would not make the same mistake. He’d be prepared, and wouldn’t let the knight go so easily. Yuri would best that man, he knew it. It was only a matter of time. After all, the knight had to be done his Quest by now. It had been weeks and Yuri had experienced firsthand how capable the man was. And once humans found out that a knight had finally managed to make it past Yuri, no doubt they’d be clamouring for him to do it again. Except he wouldn’t do it again, of course.

 

Yuri exhaled deeply and tried to massage his shoulders. He was so fucking tense these days. He’d been on guard for quite a while now, his brain trying to come up with all the ideas of what the knight could be doing. Wondering if the villagers had cheered for him when he came home, or if his fellow knights clapped him on the back. Most of all Yuri had wondered if the knight had smiled while receiving his many congratulations, breaking the stoic demeanor of his in front of those he loved, and then preceded to tell the story of the idiot fae who had failed to stop him.

 

He wondered, distantly, if those loved ones knew what Yuri was capable of doing to those he disliked. Would they cry if they did?

 

But it didn’t matter, he told himself, because even if that was the case he’d be unsympathetic. _Nothing_ good came out of treating a knight well. He knew that more than anyone.

 

(“I’ll be back soon,” he remembered hearing.)

 

(Remembered believing.)

 

Yuri scowled. This was getting troublesome. The lack of Quests since That Person had obviously affected him more than he originally believed. He needed people to take his anger out on while he waited... people who wouldn’t spill his secrets, people who wouldn’t judge him too much.

  
And with that, he resolved to pay a visit to Victor and Yuuri.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuri goes to Victor and Yuuri to rant, until a certain knight comes back and Yuri has to deal with him. Neither encounters go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello whose popping in with a chapter that's probably long overdue? It's me! 
> 
> I'm dissatisfied with so much of this honestly but I don't want you guys (I love how I'm pretending I have readers) to wait any longer. 
> 
> Also, a warning: I don't have a beta, so everything here is proofread by me. If anyone spot some mistakes feel free to point them out!

Victor and the pig lived in a little lake right on the edge of a meadow. The journey there was short, which was  ~~fortunate~~  bad, because then there was no excuse for him to avoid the couple for long periods of time. Usually Yuri only came when he was invited, just to emphasize the fact that he did not like them, but this time… well, he had more pressing concerns. 

 

Yuri flew down, hovering for just a second to listen for any noises (He’d walked in on the Morons™ doing…  _ it _ once, and that was enough, thank you very much) before he kicked the water in greeting. “HEY YOU TWO, SOMEONE LET ME IN.”

 

“Coming!” Yuri heard Yuuri call, and a second later, the elder fae glided out of the water to beam at Yuri with that annoying smile of his. If he was upset that Yuri had shown up completely unannounced, he did not show it. Yuri made what he hoped was a scowling, why-am-I-here face, which was ignored. “I, Katsuki Yuuri, give permission for Yuri Plisetsky to set foot in my home.”

 

The water in the lake shimmered slightly as he finished, the wards surrounding the area now knowing not to attack Yuri on sight. Looking much more cheerful now that protocol had been followed, Yuuri beamed at him and said, “Yurio! It’s so great to see you.”

 

Was he losing his touch? He couldn’t seem to intimidate anyone these days. “Whatever. Do you have any food?”

 

And he zipped below the water before Yuuri could reply. 

 

Once below the lake’s surface, Yuri found himself in the living room of Yuuri and Victor’s home. He purposely avoided looking at the walls, which were covered in oddball gadgets (Victor liked to collect random objects on each of his dates with Yuuri, and if you so much glanced at one he’d launch into a lecture on each of their special meanings). 

 

“Yurio!” Speaking of the devil, Yuri heard Victor before he saw him, the silver-haired fae smiling his stupid heart shaped smile as he turned around the corner. “It’s so rare to see you visit without having to threaten you first! How are you?”

 

“Terrible,” Yuri said without hesitation, brushing past him irritably and making his way to the kitchen. He opened a cupboard and started looking for snacks. Behind him, he heard Victor greet Yuuri as the fae came home. He glanced over his shoulder. Ugh, they were hugging again, embracing as if they hadn’t seen each other in months. Why were they always like this? 

 

He grabbed something random from the depths of the cupboard and made his way to the couch to eat. Maybe if he acted awkward enough the couple would get the message. Seriously, no one needed to be that lovey dovey. 

 

Finally, after what seemed like two centuries of waiting, the two broke apart. 

 

“Do you want something to drink with that?” Yuuri asked, noticing Yuri (About fucking time, he thought). The younger fae just shrugged. Nonetheless, a steaming cup of milk was placed in front of him a few minutes later. 

 

“Thanks,” He grunted, and took a sip. Sweetened with just the right amount of honey as always. It was perhaps the only thing he’d ever admit Yuuri was good at -Victor could never get the ratio right. 

 

“You’re welcome,” Yuuri voice was warm. “So, how are you?”

 

“I already asked,” said Victor, flopping down onto a seat in front of Yuri, holding his own cup of milk. “He said he’s been terrible.”

 

“I’ve been fantastic, thank you for asking,” Yuri told Yuuri. 

 

Victor gasped with mock hurt and surprise. “Yuri, how could you lie to meeeee?”

 

“Now that I’ve messed with Victor, that is,” Yuri finished, prompting the other Yuuri to laugh. Victor just pouted, crossing his legs in resignation of the teasing remarks. 

 

“You two...” He sighed and took a sip of milk, sulking. “I remember the days you didn’t even get along!”

 

“Pfft,” Yuuri teasingly poked him in the cheek. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

“Nothing unites people like a common enemy,” was Yuri’s only contribution, which earned him a look from Victor that the man probably thought was a glare, but really was more of a sad pout. He gulped down some of his beverage to hide a smile. 

 

There was a moment of silence as conversation lulled, but it was comfortable so Yuri didn’t bother breaking it. It really had been a while since he’d been here, he mused, and now that the normal banter was out of the way it felt rather nice to just relax a while, munching on food and not really having to think about anything in particular. 

 

“So,” Victor finally said some time later, placing his cup down to smile at Yuri. And if he didn’t know Victor as well as he did, Yuri would have missed the flicker of unveiled interest in the other fae’s eyes. Yuri put his snack down and raised an eyebrow -a silent question. “I heard you let a knight get away.”

 

The words aren’t harsh, even if they might have been coming from anyone else. In fact, they’re almost teasing -but no, Victor’s staring too intently, his smile is just a tad off- Victor’s  _ curious,  _ deeply so, and Yuri tightened his hand around the handle of his cup because the last time Victor had been fascinated with something he’d mated with Yuuri. 

 

(That was very much a bad thing, so obviously this was too.)

 

“Where did you hear something like that?” Even though he would have told Victor himself, it irked him a little that the fae had already heard of it. Then again, it had happened a few weeks ago, so it wasn’t strange that the couple already knew. Still, it hadn’t quite registered in Yuri’s brain that the events had taken place quite a while ago until that moment. It’d all seemed so… recent. 

 

“The wind told me,” Victor said teasingly, using the old fae proverb that probably just meant Chris. Yuri’s list of people he wanted strangled was growing larger by the minute. “But is it true?”

 

Yuri wished with all his might he could say  _ fuck no _ . Alas… “Yes.”

 

Victor took a sip of his drink then set it down slowly, the glass hitting the table with an air of finality. “Wow.”

 

Yuuri slapped his arm, looking affronted. “Victor! That was rude!” 

 

“I mean, I knew it was, because everyone was saying so,” Victor didn’t seem to hear him, his words coming out in a rush of disbelief and surprise. “But considering everything, I knew you’d have fought hand and nail for the opposite and I didn’t think-”

 

“You’re not thinking right now,” Yuri snapped. “And I will give you exactly five seconds to remedify that.”

 

Victor stopped talking. 

 

“If you so much as think the fact that I slipped once makes me weak,” Yuri continued, glaring at him with the force of a thousand suns, “I will cut off all your hair.”

 

“Not the hair!” In typical Victor fashion, the elder fae hurriedly covering his hair with his hands. Then he lowered them. “But on a more serious note, Yuri… you know that wasn’t what I was thinking, right?” 

 

He did. 

 

“I was just surprised,” Victor said, and perhaps in another world Yuri would have been able to stay mad at this man, this man who knew him as well as himself and perhaps even better, if Victor didn’t look so much like a kicked puppy when he was sad. His eyes were wide and apologetic and there was something genuine in the downturn of his mouth. “And that was a shitty reaction I know, but your record was so spotless that this a bit unexpected. After what happened…” 

 

Yuri tensed, and Victor smiled sadly. “Sorry, I know you don’t like that being mentioned. But if this knight turns out to be similar, you know you can count on us to drive him off, right?”

 

“I don’t need your help.” Yuri protested, but Victor had known him long enough to know that he was forgiven. The elder fae’s grin turned happy. 

 

“So, was he strong?” Yuuri broke the silence suddenly, eyes on Yuri. “I mean, he had to be to get past you, but how good was he?”

 

“He was…” Yuri hesitated, and made the mistake of glancing down at his cup before he realized lack of eye contact would only make the couple more curious. He jerked his head up. “He wasn’t completely brain dead.”

 

“You sound  _ impressed _ .”

 

Yuri raised an eyebrow at Victor. That was a bit rash even for him, especially since he’d already had to apologize once today.  

 

“Ignore him, he’s an idiot that’s blunt at the best of times,” Yuuri smiled diplomatically, putting a hand on his mate’s shoulder in a patronising gesture. Yet Yuri could tell that beneath the bright smile and innocent eyes the fae’s mind was whirling as he tried to figure out what it meant for Yuri to willingly compliment (sort of) a knight. 

 

(Just because Yuri calls him stupid doesn’t mean he actually believes it.)

 

“You don’t have to tell me he’s an idiot, I’ve known the second I saw him.”

 

“Yuuurio, don’t be so cold!” Victor huffed, pouting. He looked ridiculous. “Why is everyone being so mean today?”

 

Sometimes Yuri wondered why he had once looked up to this man. 

 

“Right, well, that’s irrelevant anyways,” Yuri said. “Whether or not I was impressed, I mean. It changes nothing.”

 

“So what would be the unchanged, normal reality?” 

 

“He comes back, I kick his ass,” Yuri said without hesitation. “This isn’t as big of a deal as you guys have made it out to be. It’s just an annoyance -an annoyance which I came to bitch about, I might add- but then you guys decided to take it and add _ feelings _ , which ruined everything. Though I should have expected that, I suppose.”

 

“Oh no,” Yuuri’s voice was practically  _ dripping  _ with sarcasm, “how dare we be emotional.”

 

Victor just sighed. “Yurio, you should have more faith in people.”

 

“Absolutely not,” Yuri said, deliberately ignoring the nickname. “If I expect the worst from everyone, then I’ll want to strangle them less when they end up annoying me.” 

 

Yuuri shot Victor an exasperated look, but the fond smile tugging at the edge of his lips ruined the what would have been stern atmosphere. “He got this dramatic flair from you.”

 

Victor gasped, placing a hand over his heart in mock offense. “Dramatic?  _ Me _ ? I can’t believe I’m facing such an accusation-”

 

“Oh my god,” Yuri was absolutely disgusted. “I couldn’t have inherited anything from either of you -you’re not even my parents!”

 

“We might as well be,” Yuuri shrugged dismissively, and Yuri would deny the feeling of happiness in him at those words to the grave. 

 

And then, in this moment of happiness, was when he felt it -finally felt it, after so many weeks of waiting- the tingling sensation in his wings that was his warning that his territory was being breached. 

 

(He’d never been so happy to have a trespasser.)

 

It must have shown on his face, because out of his periphery he could see that Yuuri had gone still, his expression unreadable. Victor had picked up his cup again and was gripping the handle with more force than perhaps required. Yuri didn’t care, shooting to his feet in seconds and nearly knocking a fancy hat with feathers (what was the story behind that one, he wondered) off one of the walls in his hurry to get out of the house. 

 

“ _ Wait _ ,” He heard Yuuri cry, and it was only the slightly panicked edge to his tone that made Yuri turn around, buzzing with impatience. The elder fae brow was furrowed as he hesitated, struggling for things to say. Finally, he settled for, “Stay safe, okay?”

 

“Okay,” To his surprise his words were sincere, though with all the impatience inside of him, just waiting to burst, he probably didn’t sound as grateful as he should have. 

 

Still, Yuuri looked significantly relaxed, and Victor even managed something akin to a cheerful smile as he said, a teasing lilt to his voice, “Well then, I suppose we won’t be seeing you for a-”

 

Yuri shot out of their house before he could hear anything else, his heart beating like a trapped hummingbird in a cage. The one day he was away from the river something important happened. Figures. His wings flapped like crazy as Yuri ducked and dived and cursed the fact that he couldn’t teleport. The objects around him became indistinguishable as they seemingly blended together, Yuri paying them no mind as he focused on getting back to the river before the knight could. He wouldn’t be able to cross without Yuri there, but unfortunately denying a Quester access was not so simple as avoiding them. If Yuri was not home to give his introduction, ancient fae magic would drag him back by force as written in (the source of all Yuri’s headaches) the fucking Quester’s Protocol. He wasn’t sure what this ‘ancient fae magic’ entailed, but he knew it wasn’t going to be anything good and Yuri would much rather face Otabek with dignity, thank you very much. 

 

In the end, he barely made it in time, and was still panting slightly as the knight came over the hill. Angrily, Yuri wondered if he’d ever get to face the knight totally prepared.  _ Wait no, don’t think like that, this is the last time you’re seeing him, remember? You’re going to send him off crying.  _

 

As Otabek drew near, Yuri let his gaze slowly drift over the knight in what he hoped was a nonchalant manner. This time, he took the liberty to really access him -something that he’d neglected out of overconfidence before. Otabek’s horse was saddled properly, and the way the knight rode him suggested not only skill, but trust. This horse wasn’t like the ones before, Yuri thought, it was well trained and strong and perhaps even loved, if Otabek naming it was any indication. 

 

Speaking of Otabek, he looked well enough, though Yuri was surprised to not see any medals adorning his breastplate -in fact, the knight didn’t have any new armour, and wasn’t that odd? Yuri had been sure that he’d have bought things for himself with the generous reward money he’d have received from his Quest. But that was irrelevant. His eyes slid lower, to the sword strapped to the knight’s side, and narrowed his eyes. It wasn’t made of iron, which was a relief, though he didn’t think Otabek would be stupid enough to carry a weapon that would openly provoke a fae. It was one less thing to worry about, however. When they fought, the knight would have no means to permanently disable him. But wait, wasn’t that odd… the satchel at Otabek’s side, which Yuri dimly remembered being a lot smaller, was practically bursting at the seams. Was the knight preparing for a longer journey this time?

 

“Hello,” Otabek nodded politely at him as he stopped his horse. Yuri grit his teeth.  _ It’s like nothing happened all those weeks before. _

 

“Hello,” Yuri’s tone was absolutely glacial, and he did not return the nod. “I am Yuri Plisetsky. Guardian fae of this Great River. Quester Otabek Altin, what makes you think you’re worthy of my forgiveness and my blessing?”

 

He rushed the introduction, clipping each word with his eagerness to skip to the part where he’d eliminate the knight. But to his surprise, Otabek didn’t state his reason, choosing to stare blankly at him instead. “Did you forget a part?”

 

“What? No!” Yuri snapped, but even as he said it the missing phrase came to mind. Fucking hell, of all times to forget something!

 

“Forgive me if I’m wrong,” said Otabek, “But last time you also mentioned a bit about, um, what was it again? A home and a spirit-”

 

“Right,” said Yuri. Of course he remembered it now. Why couldn’t he have slowed the fuck down, and not make a fool of himself in front of the person he’d sworn to beat? Now he’d have to start all over, or face the consequences of breaking the Protocol. He looked at the knight, sure he’d never been so frustrated. Still… “I suppose I owe you my thanks.”

 

“It’s alright, I was just trying to help. You mentioned something about the introduction and a Protocol the last time I was here. I figured there were consequences for breaking the rules.” 

 

“Observant of you,” Yuri said tightly. And it really was. To not only remember a line from speech that took most faes days to memorize, but also a single detail from a throwaway conversation that happened a month ago, he had to have a good memory. Yuri filed that information away for later use. “Well, now that that’s settled, lets continue.”

 

He said his introduction again, properly this time, and waited warily for the knight to say his part.

 

“I’ve been assigned a harder Quest this time,” Otabek began, one hand on the hilt of his sword, looking much too heroic and handsome than he should-

 

Wait, what? Did he just call Otabek handsome? 

 

_ No, you’re just tired from all that flying, you didn’t mean it,  _ Yuri told himself. Behind him, his wings fluttered traitorously. He ignored them. 

 

“A harder one? How brave of you. They must really pay well in your kingdom, huh?” Yuri interrupted, his words a lazy drawl. He’d gotten a grip on himself and mimicked Otabek’s posture, putting one hand on his hip in what he hoped was a sassy gesture. “Or do you just enjoy being your king’s dog for fun?”

 

Otabek ignored the jibe (of course he did, Yuri thought sourly) and took a deep breath, like he was about to admit something even he didn’t want to, “I’m here to kill a dragon.”

 

(For a brief second the world shuttered to a stop.)

 

_ “Yurochka,” someone called, their voice kind and warm and loving.  _

 

(But only for a second.)

 

“Really?” Yuri’s voice sounded strange, full of too many emotions for him to identify. Rage. Disbelief. And… panic? A laugh, almost hysterical in it’s pitch and length slipped out of his mouth. “How… glorious.”

 

And it really was, in a manner of speaking. Among humans, he was well aware, it was considered a great accomplishment to slay a dragon. Many people had tried. Yuri had long lost track of the number of times some buffoon had declared that to be their reason for crossing his river. 

 

(He remembered one particular time especially.)

 

“And what did your kingdom offer for you to accept?” Yuri crooned. “Glory? Fame? Money? Or did you just throw yourself at your superiors, begging for the task?”

 

Otabek stared at him, eyes wide and mouth open just an inch, and despite the whirlwind of emotions inside of him Yuri felt a distinct blossom of pride that he’d finally made the knight lose his composure. 

 

(Then Otabek started talking and suddenly he didn’t.)

 

“You lost someone you loved to a dragon,” The knight said, head tilted and eyes seeing too much for Yuri’s comfort. “A friend. No… family?” 

 

Yuri froze, stricken. 

 

(And the world jolted to a stop.)

 

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Only two meetings the knight had just guessed _ \-  _ had just known- was it that easy to tell? His insides felt cold with horror, he felt like… he felt like someone had just dumped him underwater unexpectedly, with every sound dulled and every sight faded. He couldn’t drown, not in his own river but this was what it’d feel like, he thought, this shock and uncertainty that seemed to mix the scenery together in a mess of greens and blues and browns, as the knight’s words echoed in his head…

 

_ You lost someone you lost someone you lost someone _

 

They swirled over and over in his mind no matter how hard he tried to ignore them, ringing with mockery and scorn that built like a tempest, like fire, like rage built in his soul, and suddenly he wasn’t scared, he was angry -no, he wasn’t angry, he was hateful and then-

 

Otabek’s eyes widened with shock as he flew backwards, just like Stefan Dechant had done so all those weeks earlier, and Yuri reveled in it, the split second of gloating he got before suddenly he was hit with excruciating pain. 

 

It was like being burned alive, every nerve in his body screaming in agony, sending waves of hurt crashing into him with the force of an earthquake. His knees buckled and he fell forwards, hunching over and screaming. Distantly, Yuri registered footsteps coming closer, the sound of clanging metal made unbearable by the pain in his head as Otabek came into view. 

 

(In a small, distant section of his brain that was not dying Yuri wondered how the knight could recover from an attack so fast.)

 

“Are you okay?” If Yuri wasn’t doubled over with pain, he’d have laughed at the question. 

 

“No,” He hissed, and immediately regretted when the pounding in his head built to a climax.

 

_ Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.  _

 

“I-” He barely managed a word before he doubled over again, hugging his knees as he lay down on the floor. “I broke-”

 

_ I broke the Quester’s Protocol.  _

 

How… stupid and utterly amateur. To allow his emotions to control him like this, to forsake literally the most basic rule in the entire Protocol - _to attack a human before they had a chance to persuade him not to-_ he’d damned himself to this symphony of suffering currently wracking his body. 

 

Otabek stared at him in horror and moved forwards to place his hand onto Yuri’s shoulder in concern, and suddenly Yuri is  _ furious,  _ furious at the knight for being kinder and braver than him, furious at himself for losing composure, and furious at things in the past that were beyond his control. 

 

“Don’t touch me,” Yuri snarled, slapping Otabek’s hand away and shuddering at the extra wave of pain it brings him. “ _ Fuck.” _

 

Otabek stood, hesitating. Yuri hated that the man was hesitating. Why did he want to help Yuri, anyways? It wasn’t like they were friends. 

 

“Go away,” He heard himself say. “The pain- as long as you’re here-”

 

Understanding dawned in Otabek’s eyes, and the knight moved to mount his horse. He grabbed the reins in his hands and turned to face him. 

 

“My sister,” Otabek said, and Yuri just managed to hear it over the screaming in his head. “You asked why I took this Quest, earlier. I’m doing this to get money for my sister’s medicine. She’s- she’s been sick of a long time.”

 

A brief pause and then, “I’m sorry.” 

 

Yuri heard the sound of the horse galloping away, and slowly the feeling of knives stabbing him lessened to needles, which faded to punches, until there was only a dull ache in his head and he managed to sit up. 

  
“Sorry, huh?” Even the weak laugh hurt Yuri’s throat, but he couldn’t stop giggling. “You fool, what do you have to be sorry for?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know I ran out of words for pain near the end, so I'm really glad that scene didn't have to be longer (On a brighter note things do get better soon I promise).
> 
> Also, ahhhhh you don't know how long I spent debating Victor's hair colour. I eventually decided to go with silver, despite the fact that it says grey on the wiki because that just makes him sound really old. And in case anyone was wondering, the reason why they drink milk is because I googled 'what do fae eat' and milk with honey came up. If this seems weird in any way blame the Internet.
> 
> Please be friends with me? I'm lumianttrash on tumblr.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything has consequences, but the price for breaking the Protocol was something Yuri could never have dreamed of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is out so late, the first two weeks after the last chapter were hell. There was so much schoolwork I was really pressed for time to write. Eventually, I decided to wake up one hour earlier than I normally do to get the time. Here ya go!
> 
> Also, I discovered I can't write Yakov. At all.

Otabek had the good grace to wait two more days before coming again.

 

During those two days, Yuri seriously considered going back to Victor and Yuuri, for actual advice this time instead of just food and kind words. In the end, he decided against it. Not because he was scared of their anger, no, they were the type of people who would be glad that he was alright now -but because they, like him, would know what breaking the Protocol entailed and-

 

Well. He didn’t want to think about it, or involve them at all. 

 

(They would try to protect him, he knew, and if they got hurt…)

 

Besides, it wasn’t like he’d be kept waiting for long. 

 

A few hours after Otabek had rode off, long after Yuri had caught his breath and tidied his clothes and had a minor breakdown (but that was besides the point) a presence started to form. There was this feeling, so similar to the tingling sensation in his wings when Otabek had come to visit, except this one was harsher, less of a tingle and more of the sensation of fizzing on skin. And there was dread building in his stomach too, of course. For the first time in a long while he felt truly afraid, which didn’t make sense.  _ You knew they would come,  _ he scolded himself,  _ so why does this feel like an unpleasant surprise? _

 

Yuri straightened, trying to keep his breathing even, and mentally racked his brain for the proper procedure when speaking with a member of the Fae Council, who (along with other things) managed the punishments for crimes, only to realize he remembered nothing. Fuck. He’d always tuned out on these things. They seemed so useless at the time.  _ And now.... _

 

Thankfully, none of his worries ended up mattering, because he knew the fae that ended up appearing. And if the scowl on his face was anything to go by, that fae wasn’t going to be fussy about proper mannerisms at the moment.

 

(Ah, fuck.)

 

“Yakov,” Yuri managed, and didn’t quite keep the surprise out of his voice. “What are you doing here?”

 

Yakov Feltsman, member of the esteemed Fae Council looked at him as he had lost his mind. “I think you know why, Yura.”

 

Yura. Yuri stiffened, having not heard that in a long time, though thankfully Yakov didn’t seem to notice. The other fae made his way to a rock by the river (which also happened to be Yuri’s favourite rock, making him a little annoyed) and sat on it, crossing his legs sternly. Only when the man waved at him to join him did Yuri move closer, now desperately wondering how he could possibly get out of trouble. 

 

“You idiot,” were the first words out of Yakov’s mouth (well, Yuri thought, that was not promising), the fae’s face twisted in anger, “What were you thinking?” 

 

There was a torrent of profanities, spewed so fast that Yuri could hardly make out the words. Yuri stared at Yakov blankly, not really absorbing anything that was said but observing in a kind of dazed appreciation.  _ Damn _ , the man knew how to swear. He added that to the list of things he knew about Yakov, not that there were many. He was a member of the Fae Council, one of the few fae elected for the Council by the population for performing great deeds (Most of them were fae of noble birth, like Yuri’s grandfather had been), but due to Nikolai Plisetsky putting in a good word for him he was given a position in the Nikiforov household and trained Victor in magic for a few years. Honestly, Yuri hadn’t seen Yakov for ages, not since the man had stopped mentoring Victor.

 

“Disgracing your line like this-”

 

Yuri laughed then, a choked, tight sound that didn’t sound as carefree as he wanted it to. And though he waved his hand in a dismissive gesture as if he could physically brush away Yakov’s words, his voice was heavy with bitterness. “Please. You know just as well as I do that my line’s already been disgraced. The name Plisetsky doesn’t hold the weight it used to.”

 

“Perhaps,” Yakov said, and though Yuri had said it himself it still hurt to hear it confirmed. “But what was damaged could still have been salvaged, if you’d just kept your head.”

 

Yuri scowled. “I beg to differ.”

 

Yakov matched his facial expression, and spat out his next words with a fierce vemonsity. “You are too much like your grandfather, much too stubborn and set in your ways.”

 

“Excuse me. I think you’ll find I’m stubborn in a way that’s entirely my own.” Yuri gave Yakov his iciest glare and crossed his legs in anger. “Besides, what’s with the huge fucking lecture? It’s not like you telling me I’m stupid will change anything, I already did the dumb thing.”

 

“Damn right you did,” said Yakov. “This is why I hate fae nobles. You all do reckless things without thinking about the consequences. Tell me, is that idiot Vitya still around here with that mate of his?”

 

At the mention of Victor, Yuri’s chest tightened painfully. He hadn’t realized how little he wanted Victor being involved in this conversation until it happened. 

 

Yakov glared at him, and in a weird moment of focus Yuri’s eyes were caught by the shine of Yakov’s bald spot. It was very bright. “Do they know?”

 

“No,” Yuri admitted, tearing his eyes away from the forehead. As he did so, something that might have been shame welled up inside of him, a combination of the fact that he had not told Victor what was going on and that he was being questioned by a Fae Council member  _ right now  _ suddenly hitting him. He found that he could no longer meet Yakov’s eyes and looked down. 

 

To his surprise, Yakov didn’t yell at him for it but only sighed deeply, as if he was too tired for all this drama. “That was probably the smartest thing you did this week. If Victor knew he’d drag himself into all kinds of trouble in your defence.”

 

Which the Fae Council would then have to punish him for, was what Yakov didn’t say. But Yuri knew that all already. It was a relief to know that someone else thought he’d made the right choice in keeping the couple in the dark.

 

“I volunteered to be the one to come here, you know,” Yakov said suddenly, and Yuri could only laugh again, a little helplessly, because that was the only way he could think of the moment to convey his question of  _ why? _

 

“Excuse you, this is no laughing matter!” Yakov huffed, but he didn’t seem too angry. “You may be ungrateful and temperamental, but you are still a child-”

 

Yuri opened his mouth to protest, but shut it again when Yakov glared at him. 

 

“-and even small, ungrateful, angry children don’t deserve some of the things other Council members can do.”

 

“Why thank you,” said Yuri, every word dripping with as much sarcasm he could muster. “I feel so honoured.”

 

“One of these days I will change my mind and let all the kids die,” Yakov snarled again, looking at the sky with a frustrated expression. “The things I do for you youngsters…”

 

Yuri wisely choose not to reply. 

 

“So here’s how it’s going to go,” Yakov said. “Normally, you would be killed for breaking the rules, end of story, huzzah, or whatever sound effects you’d use and I’d be left telling Vitya what an idiot you were. However, since you’re a noble-”

 

Here, his face twisted unpleasantly.

 

“-the Council has decided to give you a little leeway.”

 

Yuri perked up, disbelieving. “You’re serious? I’m getting off free?”

 

“Oh, far from  _ free _ ,” Yakov sneered, and Yuri’s heart sank. “But you do have a choice. Which you should be grateful for, since not everyone is so lucky.”

 

No doubt the man was remembering all the bullshit he had to put up with when he tried to get elected. Even though it was annoying to hear Yakov whine about fae nobles, especially since he was one, the guy probably deserved it. Yuri knew what it felt like to have others treat you badly because they felt like they were better, and it was not fun. But he didn’t particularly care about Yakov’s woes in the moment, not when he still didn’t know what was going to have to do. “Yeah yeah, I know. So what-?”

 

“You have two choices,” Yakov said. “One, you are convicted of your huge breach of protocol, and in retaliation, the Council will deem it fit to remove your soul. Meaning, of course, that you still live but lose all of your magical ability and sense of self.”

 

Yuri swallowed. “That’s-”

 

“Worse than death, probably,” Yakov’s voice sounded oddly sympathetic (Or as sympathetic as Yakov could sound, anyways). “Which is why there’s the second option.”

 

Yuri held his breath, not daring to ask. While he didn’t think it could get any worse than losing his soul, which was definitely not something he ever wanted to experience, he also wasn’t na ï ve. If the Fae Council was offering him another way out knowing that he’d weigh it against arguably one of the worst things possible, then it had to be either very bad or something that they were manipulating for their own gain. Maybe both. 

 

Yakov paused for a moment, though whether the silence was drawn out on purpose or purely coincidental Yuri would never know. “You can lose your soul. Or you can help the knight with his Quest, and if you succeed, then you’re-” He wrinkled his nose and put on an (decent, Yuri had to admit) imitation of Yuri. “ _ free _ .”

 

“Oh,” said Yuri. And in his head, louder,  _ oh.  _

 

That was- that was _ absolutely- _

 

For a second, the familiar feeling of a hurricane is his veins resurfaced, and it felt like there was a monster inside him screaming and yelling for him to lash out. How dare Yakov suggest that, how dare the Council,  _ how dare _ -

 

And then suddenly Otabek’s face came to mind, the knight’s eyes full of concern as he’d stared at Yuri that day and Yuri flinched, the anger dissipating for an instant. That instant was long enough for it to come rushing back - _ wordsangerpainpunishment- _ and for him to remember how he’d gotten in this situation in the first place. 

 

( _ Still _ …)

 

Yakov was watching him warily now, obviously aware of the effect the words had had on him. Yuri just swallowed and turned his head away, a red flush staining his neck and cheeks.  _ Weak _ , he thought spitefully, but could still not bring himself to meet the other fae’s gaze. Yakov’s eyes bore into him and it was all he could do not to shiver. 

 

Eventually, the feeling of being watched subsided and Yuri risked a glance at Yakov, who sat silently on the rock observing some grass at his feet. He didn’t look up or pressure Yuri for an answer, like others might have, and for that Yuri was grateful. 

 

He inhaled deeply, trying to calm himself like he did before, but it didn’t work. He was starting to really despise whoever said it did. That person was a bitch ass  _ liar. _

 

(Calm down. Think.)

 

Which option would he choose? 

 

( _ Was there really a choice with those options?) _

 

Yuri took a deep breath, paused, and kept silent. 

 

_ Open your mouth and say it open your mouth and say it just say it say it get it over with.  _

 

“I,” He began, faltering when Yakov turned to look at him with his eyebrows raised. It took a tremendous effort, but finally he managed to force the words out. “I’ll do it.”

 

A pause. “The Quest, I mean,” Yuri added, not sure if it was necessary to specify, but nervous enough that he couldn’t help but babble. 

 

“Very well, then,” said Yakov, after another beat of silence that left Yuri much too uncomfortable. He could feel the other fae judging him or even worse- pitying him, like he was someone pathetic. “I’ll inform the Council.”

 

There was yet another moment of silence, and it struck Yuri how unlike it was from the comfortable air of camaraderie shared with Victor and Yuuri. Yakov had said his bit and Yuri had answered, so technically it was time for goodbye. Yuri swallowed tightly.  _ Goodbye.  _ So terminal. So final. He had always hated saying goodbye. So instead he said, “Will you tell Victor where I’ve gone?”

 

_ After I left _ ,  _ that is,  _ went unsaid but not unheard, as Yakov would surely not be so stupid as to expose Yuri’s plans while Victor could still stop them. But Yakov frowned darkly instead of agreeing, to Yuri’s surprise. “Vitya I can deal with, but the Katsuki-”

 

“Oh right, Yuuri,” Yuri said, misunderstanding the statement. “Probably best if you tell him Yuuri too, I mean they  _ do _ live together so he’ll hear anyways, but-”

 

“That’s not what I meant,” Yakov’s voice was flat. “He’ll be upset, too. You want me to deal with the consequences of that?”

 

“Oh,” finally he realized what Yakov meant. “There won’t be consequences. I mean, he’ll be mad but- he’s decent. He won’t kill you. He doesn’t do that sort of thing.”

 

Yakov stared at him for a short while, body tense and not quite reassured, but eventually nodded assent. “Very well. I’ll pass the message on.”

 

Yuri’s shoulders sagged from tension he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He felt so relieved he forgot himself for a moment and shot Yakov a thumbs up. “Okay. Good.”

 

Yakov looked at his thumbs up for a second, eyeing the gesture critically. “Thanks would be more proper.”

 

The words sounded a little fond, though. Maybe Yakov realized it that as well, because he immediately disappeared, the feeling of it rushing like a little electric  _ zap  _ through Yuri’s wings. Then he was gone. 

 

And for the second time in the day, Yuri was left alone. 

 

After that, two days came and passed extremely quickly. 

 

Once more, the knight came over the crest of the hill on his horse. This time, Yuri didn’t even bother to stand, instead choosing to stay where he was on the rock beside the river. He choose not to fix his eyes on the approaching human, but on the moving water beside him. Maybe if he didn’t look at the knight, he thought, he could pretend Otabek wasn’t there. Maybe time would pass slower this way. At the very least, he could savour the time he still had left. 

 

Naturally, his determination to ignore the knight meant that it was absolutely the last thing he could do. Try as he might, Yuri could not completely focus on the river. His ears kept straining to hear the familiar  _ clop clop  _ of the horse’s footsteps, the  _ clang _ of the knight’s armour. Finally, he caught a scruffy noise from behind him and he couldn’t even pretend not to be listening anymore as his mind raced with curiosity. Was the knight dismounting? He hadn’t done that before. 

 

But why did that matter, anyways? Yuri scowled and glared at the river with all the intensity he could muster. He could draw his remaining freedom out, he told himself, one second more, two seconds more-

 

“Hello?” Otabek said, in a voice that on anyone else would have been tentative, but for him just sounded a little quieter than normal. 

 

Yuri stifled the urge to sigh. He schooled his face into an impassive expression and turned. 

 

Just as he expected, Otabek wasn’t sitting in the saddle of his horse but standing beside it, twisting the reins in his hands as if he was slightly apprehensive. But that was probably his imagination. It would be nice if the knight was as nervous as Yuri himself, but what were the odds of that? They were a good distance away from each other, roughly two meters, and maybe if Yuri was more optimistic he’d have believed that the knight was trying to give him space. He scanned the knight’s expression critically, but as usual found that he couldn’t tell what the man was thinking. 

 

_ I hate you _ , Yuri wanted to say.  _ Which will definitely make the fact that I’m going to have to go on a Quest with you unbearable. Hell, I need to kill a motherfucking dragon with you.  _

 

Yuri took a deep breath and said, “Hello.”

 

“Hey,” the knight said again, instead of anything useful, and Yuri found himself oddly irritated in just a matter of seconds. 

 

“Hi,” He returned, just to be stubborn. 

 

“Hi.”

 

“Hey.”

 

The knight was staring at him, face blank as always, but the intensity of his stare made it seem like he was expecting something from him. Yuri racked his brain and- ah. Right. He was supposed to introduce himself, wasn’t he? Funny how something that used to be so routine and normal could be utterly demolished in a matter of days. Yuri had completely forgotten about that. Did he even still have to do it? It seemed rather ridiculous, now that the knight obviously knew who he was, and had even seen him screaming on the ground-

 

No.  _ No. _ He didn’t want to think about that. Nonetheless -Yuri suppressed a shudder at the thought of it- the last time he broke the Protocol the consequences had not been pleasant… as stupid as it was, Yuri grumbled to himself, it was best to err on the side of caution and introduce himself. 

 

Still, it didn’t stop him from rolling his eyes a little as he said, “I am Yuri Plisetsky, Guardian fae of this Great River, my home and my spirit, the place that you wish to trespass upon for the purpose of your Quest. Quester Otabek Altin, what makes you think you’re worthy of my forgiveness and my blessing?”

 

Otabek opened his mouth. “I-”

 

“Great,” said Yuri. “You can pass.” 

 

Otabek closed his mouth. Then opened it again. He looked at little funny, Yuri had to admit, with those wide eyes and startled expression. Obviously this was the last thing the knight had expected. “What?” 

 

“I said,” Yuri repeated, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice, “that you may cross my river.”

 

“But aren’t you, you know, supposed to listen to what I say before letting me pass?”

 

“No, we have to listen to your reason for passing before deciding whether or not to kill you. There’s a difference.” But the fact that Otabek knew there was a similar rule was… interesting. It was incorrect, but still close enough that Yuri made note of it on the growing list of fascinating things he knew about Otabek Altin.

 

“But why-” 

 

“Well, usually fae don’t like it when people cross their territory, so a rule was never implanted about forbidding them to do so.”

 

“That’s not what I meant.”

 

“I know what you meant,” Yuri said, and he did, which was why he wanted to stall so badly. But he couldn’t avoid it any longer. “And it’s not out of the kindness in my heart, I assure you. I do have one condition for allowing you to do trespass unpunished, however. Note the use of the word ‘condition’. It’s not a request, nor a deal- completely non negotiable.”

 

Otabek’s expression turned wary, and his left hand twitched as if he wanted nothing more than to grab his sword. He had good instincts. Fae and conditions did not usually mean anything pleasant. “And this condition would be?”

 

“Allow me to accompany you on your Quest, of course.”

 

For a split second, a look of surprise flickered across Otabek’s face. The knight got a grip of his emotions remarkably fast, however, and Yuri was impressed. If he’d blinked Yuri would definitely have missed the shocked expression.  

 

“And I don’t suppose,” Otabek gazed at him with searching eyes, “That if we go on a trip together, I’ll end up drowning or burned alive or hung from a noose?” 

 

“You offend me, have I ever given you any indication that I-”

 

“Hate me? Very much so,” Otabek said. “But to be honest, I’d have asked even if you’d been nothing but perfectly polite. I was not born yesterday -I’ve met fae before. I know your kind doesn’t take lightly to being… intruded upon.” 

 

It was the polite way to say  _ bested _ , Yuri knew, and the fact that he wanted to hurl the knight back into the tree did not help his temper when he realized it proved Otabek right. 

 

“You’re right,” Yuri admitted, because he would fool no one with a lie. “We do not. However, fae do not also take lightly to broken rules.”

 

His mouth twisted unpleasantly. “You want my mastermind plan to kill you on this trip? Unfortunately, there isn’t one just yet. And nor will there be one in the foreseeable future, as seeing you through your Quest successfully was one of two options the Fae Council gave me as punishment for breaking the Protocol.”

 

Another quick flash of emotion, but this time Yuri could not identify what it was. “I see. And of the two, you choose _ this _ one?”

 

“Don’t feel too flattered. You were simply the lesser of two evils.” 

 

It took a while for Otabek to speak again, so long that Yuri began to wonder if he’d offended the knight, but the cautious words that emerged from the knight’s mouth seemed to have his feelings in mind more than anything.

 

“Perhaps you feel that way,” said Otabek, “but if you don’t mind me saying this- fae do not usually say everything up front and honestly, and the Council might not have been so different. Have you considered the possibility that they might have mislead you to believe this one is better in any way?”

 

“Yes,” said Yuri, though the answer was not really. He did some quick thinking. Yakov had clearly said the words ‘lose your soul’ as one of the options, which didn’t leave much room for loopholes. He didn’t believe the man would lie, no matter how he felt about nobles, and it seemed plausible enough to be the truth. No matter how you worded it, there was no way losing your soul could be better than what Yuri was about to do now. He was safe, surely.

 

(Right?)

 

Otabek made an expression that was probably his version of a hugely exaggerated frown, but really just looked like he was pressing his lips together more tightly than normal. “Are you sure?”

 

“Positive,” Yuri retorted, his voice so icy that Otabek raised his hands in defence.

 

“I don’t mean to offend,” The knight said. “You obviously have strong feelings about me and the goal of this Quest. I won’t pry, but I need to warn you- this isn’t going to be easy. Especially if you’re already opposed to the idea.”

 

Yuri scowled. “Are you suggesting I can’t handle it?”

 

“No, only that Questing is very, very different from what you’re used to.”

 

The fact that he sounded completely serious, not even a tiny bit mocking, rankled Yuri more than an outright insult would have. “You don’t know anything about me!” 

 

“Perhaps not,” said Otabek, “but I know a lot about Questing, and enough about guardian fae to know that they don’t usually go very far from their homes for an extended period of time.”

 

That was true, though Yuri didn’t want to admit it. “Perhaps we don’t. But if Questing is as dangerous as you make it out to be, then surely extra help would be beneficial?”

 

“Not when the help has no idea what they’re doing,” It was irritating how Otabek didn’t sound insulting at all, just matter-of-fact. “No offense.”

 

Yuri resisted the urge to roll his eyes with what felt like tremendous effort. The knight’s politeness had been annoying (and at times downright maddening) before, but now it was just plain exasperating. 

 

“Alright, since you’re obviously not going to be convinced easily,” Yuri said, trying to sound patient and failing miserably, “I’ll just say it and be done with you. How ready I am for this Quest doesn’t bother me at all because if I don’t help you, I lose my soul.  _ That’s  _ the other option.” 

 

Otabek stared at him in horror. “What? Isn’t that-”

 

“Strict? Oh, absolutely, but we’ve already established that about my species, haven’t we?” Yuri smiled nastily, like a wolf did before they attacked their prey. “You can see how worse working with a knight is, though. Which is why I’m not here and instead wandering around as a soulless husk.”

 

“I- I see,” Otabek managed, and though his eyes were still a little wide, they were also very focused, as if the knight was quickly processing this development and what it would mean for him. Yuri felt a small lump of grudging respect take form. “Are you sure?”

 

“Unfortunately.”

 

“Very well, then, I-” Otabek glanced down at his nearly bursting satchel, considering. “I only brought enough supplies for myself, however, which complicates issues. Do you eat?”

 

Now that was almost amusing, and his feelings leaked through in his voice. “Yes, I do eat.” 

 

“I apologise if that was a stupid question,” Otabek said, “I’m just trying to-”

 

“Cover all the basics, I know, but your ignorance is rather aggravating.” Yuri glanced at him coolly and then said, “I eat, but I can find food myself easily enough in the forest. I can fly, but I can’t teleport or anything fancy like that. In no circumstances will I ever carry you.”

 

Otabek muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like, “I doubt you could if you tried.” 

 

“That’s roughly everything I can think of right now,” Yuri continued, pretending he didn’t hear anything. Otabek had hastily begun to cough anyways, and he doubted he could pry a confession out of the knight. “And you? Since we’ve established that I’ll be accompanying you, care to tell me a bit more about what I’m getting myself into?”

 

“Well, the whole thing is pretty straightforward,” Otabek said. “Kill a dragon. That’s the hardest part. Getting there should be pretty easy.”

 

He reached for the pouch at the side of his horse’s saddle, digging inside it for a moment before pulling out a neatly folded piece of paper that he quickly spread out.

 

“If we’re lucky, it’ll only take a month or so,” Otabek said, tilting the map towards Yuri when he saw the fae craning his neck to look. “We’ll have to get past these two villages, and then past the forest to the mountain-”

 

He pointed to a spot of the top of the mountain. “And once we climb it, this is where we’ll find dragon.” 

 

“Well then, what are we waiting for?” Yuri demanded. “Lead the way, fellow Quester. The sooner this is over, the better.” 

 

For a second, Yuri wondered if the knight would call him out on his rudeness, but all Otabek did was fold his map into neat little squares and tuck it inside a pouch attached to the side of his saddle. Then the man turned and looked at him. 

 

It took an embarrassing amount of time for Yuri to realize what Otabek meant by that look. “You want me to ride?” 

 

“Unless you’d rather fly,” Otabek said, both looking and sounding completely serious. 

 

Yuri hesitated for a split second. On one hand, it meant having to exercise and could wear him out. But the other option, he thought, eyeing the saddle with disgust, was simply not possible. He would not be so dependent on the knight, not when Otabek had already seen him at his most vulnerable. He couldn’t risk being weak. Just the thought of the word left a bitter taste in Yuri’s mouth. “I would, actually.”

 

“Suit yourself,” Otabek’s voice wasn’t even a little miffed, though he levelled another searching look at Yuri. Yuri resisted the urge to scowl angrily in return, instead settling for lifting his chin up in defiant gesture and soaring into the air so that if Otabek wanted to look him in the eye, he’d have to crane his neck to do so. 

 

However, when Yuri glanced at him, Otabek had looked away. The knight pulled on his horse’s reins and they were on their way as soon as he said, “Lets go.”

 

It became clear, from the very first seconds in on their Quest, precisely how annoying and tedious this Quest was going to be. While Yuri was sure the boring part of it (they weren’t talking, and it wasn’t like the trees around them were very exciting) would probably pass once they went further through their route, already he could point out the things that would be causes of his frustration throughout the Quest. 

 

One such example was his position in the air. Annoyingly enough, though he wanted to fly faster, Yuri could not stray too far from Otabek as the knight knew the route best. The few seconds he’d been allowed to look at the map had given him a vague sense of where they were going, not complete certainty that he knew the way. Out of sheer pettiness, Yuri did not want to fly directly above Otabek as his shadow would shield the knight from the sun. He settled for hovering just behind him instead, and tried to ignore the horse’s spontaneous bathroom breaks that he had a front row seat to. 

 

Another thing was the constant noise. The clamour that had always annoyed Yuri so much -horses stamping, armour clanking- was absolutely unbearable now that he was so near it. Yuri eyed Otabek and found to his dismay that the knight seemed totally unbothered by these ridiculous sounds. He must be used to them. It almost made Yuri feel bad for the knight-

 

“Hello.”

 

Nevermind, remembering the knight existed was enough for him to lose all sympathy. 

 

Yuri craned his neck downwards, enjoying looking down on Otabek very much. “What?”

 

“I thought-” Otabek stared up at him with an unidentifiable expression. “You might want to, I don’t know, talk?”

 

Yuri snorted, and then realized the knight was actually serious. 

 

“Actually, I don’t,” He made his voice as cutting as he could muster. Part of him expected the knight to protest, maybe even wanted the knight to protest just so he could take out his anger on someone, but Otabek just looked away in acquiesce and didn’t pry further. 

  
After that, the two of them travelled in stony silence. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The good thing about Questing, Yuri thought, was that it wasn’t as bad as he’d thought it be.
> 
>  
> 
> The bad thing, he amended, was that it was worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was sick and didn't feel good for a couple of days... sorry guys... :(

The good thing about Questing, Yuri thought, was that it wasn’t as bad as he’d thought it be. 

 

The bad thing, he amended, was that it was worse. 

 

The day before, they had traveled for hours under the blazing sun (it was technically fall now, but the weather was still warm, and it showed no sign of changing anytime soon). Yuri’s wings had felt like they were going to snap off his back with all the flying he was doing. His breaths had gotten increasingly laboured as they’d gone on,  and when they finally stopped and made camp, it had been such a relief. 

 

It had also been really fucking awkward, to be honest. Yuri hadn’t realized how often he had to use his voice in company until he was awkwardly trying to ask Otabek to pass the butter. 

 

The knight  _ had  _ passed the butter, yet it still felt like Yuri had failed the conversation somehow. 

 

But he had to count his blessings, as few as they were. After developing a killer headache due to all the ruckus, a spell had made it mostly go away. The pain in his head lessened, though it was still there, and he supposed it still would be for a while until maybe it got a little shadier- the sun was coming down strong and hard and Yuri did not know he could sweat this much, goddamn it. He was going to stink. 

 

As well, their trip had so far proved to be peaceful, and that was good. Except, of course, it meant that there was nothing to distract Yuri from the tiredness in his wings. Flapping them was starting to take a toll on him, and he was well aware that Yuri had slowly begun to sink downwards. But if he tried to walk, not only would he fall behind Otabek but the knight would offer Yuri a ride again. His pride would not allow that to happen.

 

Unfortunately, his pride did not give him any more energy, either. 

 

What he needed, Yuri thought, was a goddamn distraction. Something that would get his mind off the physical drain he felt and help him get through this trip. 

 

(But what distractions were there, really?)

 

Yuri scowled to himself and resolutely focused on not looking at Otabek. 

 

An hour later, his wings were barely flapping every time he beat them. He’d dropped nearly a metre in height- if he went any lower, his feet would kick the back of Otabek’s head. Worse, he was getting to the point where Yuri had started to entertain the idea. 

 

He tried to think. It was hard, in this heat. What about asking for a break? That was reasonable, right? They hadn’t had one today so far. He wondered how he should bring it up, how he could word his request without seeming desperate. Then he wondered why he cared. “Lets stop. I’m thirsty and need to drink.”

 

Otabek tilted his head up to look at him. As always, he didn’t appear particularly bothered by Yuri’s words, or even surprised at Yuri’s sudden acknowledgement of him. Otabek nodded silently, then guided Serik towards the trees. Yuri couldn’t descend fast enough. A short way from the ground, his wings crumpled like wet leaves and he hit the ground hard, stumbling forwards a few steps before he was able to catch himself. The pain in his back was somehow even more prominent on ground, it bore down on him and made it a physical challenge to stand straight. Thankfully, Otabek had had his back towards Yuri and did not see, but he worried that the knight had heard his clumsy landing. 

 

Then the knight turned, and Yuri schooled his features into something more apathetic. Otabek held out a flask that he’d gotten from his satchel. “Water?”

 

He’d almost forgotten that had been his excuse. Yuri uncorked the top and raised it to his mouth, eager to drink after such a hot day. It was only after two swallows that he realized he should probably be drinking slower, and began to take more shallow sips, attempting to draw out the time. 

 

“Be careful with that, we only have so much water,” The knight reminded him. 

 

Right. What a pity. Still-

 

“Just a little more,” Yuri insisted. 

 

“No, that’s enough,” Otabek sounded stern. “Come on, lets go.”

 

Yuri looked at the horse longingly, but could not bring himself to speak. He knew that if he asked to rest longer the knight would have questions, and he wasn’t willing to offer him answers. Before he knew it, the two of them were travelling once more. 

 

The few minutes they’d spent in the shade didn’t do much to alleviate the pain between his shoulder blades, and what little help they had been was erased the second Yuri was back in flight. The ache rose to staggering amounts and Yuri had to hold back a gasp of pain, struggling to focus. 

 

Unfortunately, the continual state of pain had granted him a one track mind that thought about the idea of rest with an obsessive fervor. This time, it took only fifteen minutes for Yuri to seriously wonder how long he could hold out. 

 

He knew, objectively, that another break was out of the question. Thirst wouldn’t work as an excuse, not so soon, and if Yuri said he was tired than Otabek would ask why he hadn’t told him earlier. But he was desperate now, pride slowly crippling under exhaustion, and he seriously began to consider his earlier idea -a distraction. It didn’t seem like it would work, but then again, Yuri thought wryly, Otabek had been smashing expectations left and right since he’d come into Yuri’s life, so maybe it wasn’t that unlikely. And besides, was a conversation really worse than what he was experiencing now?

 

“I hate fall,” Yuri said. It wasn’t quite true, but he had to say something, and frankly right now he hated everyone and everything. “It’s too warm.”

 

There was a beat of silence, and for a second Yuri wondered if the knight would even reply, or if he’d just be totally ignored. But then the knight spoke, his voice even and betraying no emotion. “If heat is your problem, wouldn’t it be more logical to hate summer instead?”

 

“I hate summer too,” Yuri said. Also not true and true enough. 

 

The knight shook his head, an action that annoyed Yuri for no reason. “Is there anything you  _ don’t _ hate?” 

 

“Believe it or not, yes,” Yuri said, thinking of Victor and Yuuri. “My friends, occasionally.”

 

He could practically hear the  _ I can’t believe you have friends  _ in the silence that followed. Yuri hated the silence and he took another shaky breath, trying to block out the world around him and focus. On. Staying. Distracted. “Do you have friends?”

 

Otabek halted his horse and turned to face him with an expression that faintly resembled disbelief. Yuri hated this too (he really was in a mood to hate everything), because it meant he had to  _ hover in midair _ , meaning that he was wasting energy and in pain and it was worthless because they _ weren’t moving _ \- “Are you trying to make polite conversation?” 

 

“Against all logic,” said Yuri, who was really only staying suspended on pure willpower at this point. And then, because he could he added, “Fuck you, by the way.”

 

“For what?” Everything. 

 

“For…” Yuri wondered how much pain he’d be in if he just fell, and if maybe breaking a few bones would spare him the rest of this goddamn quest. “For being so annoying.”

 

“You’re the one who initiated conversation,” Otabek reminded him. Ah, what a terrible truth that was. Yuri had forgotten why he’d thought it’d be a good idea. But he wasn’t going to stop talking now. 

 

“Well, can you really blame me?” It took a herculean effort to gesture around him. “Aside from you and the horse, there’s no one else to talk to.”

 

“Talk to Serik, then,” Otabek said, turning back around and bringing Serik into a canter. It was a brilliant way of shutting down a conversation, except Yuri wasn’t going to let it be successful. He put on his best simpering voice.

 

“Hey, Serik.” There was a moment of silence. Yuri took a deep breath and continued. “Your owner’s not talking to me, so I might as well talk to you instead.”

 

There was no response, though Yuri hadn’t expected there to be. Too late, he realized all he might accomplish from this was to make himself look like a fool. Ah well, he thought grimly, he had started this, he had to finish it without losing his dignity somehow. “That’s okay, though. He can’t ignore me forever, and we still have the whole journey ahead of us-”

 

_ Oh fuck, they had the whole journey in front of them.  _

 

“So that leaves us plenty of time to get to know each other, right?”

 

The horse gave a little snort that may or may not have been coincidental, but sounded like an agreement nonetheless. Yuri would have frozen while flying, except for the fact that he knew if he stopped now he’d probably never muster the energy to start up again. The noise gave him an idea, though. 

 

“Say, Serik,” said Yuri, uncharacteristically hesitant, “How is it having that knight for a master? Is he annoying? I bet he is. Snort if you agree.”

 

As Yuri predicted, the horse again made a sound of agreement that, despite everything, brought a wicked smile on his face. 

 

In front of him, Otabek had gone tense. 

 

“If you think he sings off key in the shower, snort.”

 

The horse did.

 

“If  you think he trips over his feet sometimes when no one is looking, snort.”

 

The horse did it again. Yuri was  _ really _ starting to like Serik. 

 

“If you think his underwear is pink with red hearts, make any noise you want!”

 

The horse fucking  _ whinnied _ . 

 

“That’s enough,” Otabek broke in. “Stop it.”

 

“What? Are you mad? Well, it’s too late. You can’t get mad at me now,” Yuri said. “You’re the one that told me to talk to your horse in the first place. Why are you angry it’s talking back?”

 

“Who knows if it’s really talking back? Maybe they’re all coincidences,” Otabek said, defensive, to which Yuri laughed. 

 

“Or maybe it agrees with me when I bitch about you.”

 

Otabek said, “Stop talking with Serik.”

 

Yuri said, “No.”

 

And in a sudden rush of reckless motivation, Yuri used what was left of his energy to propel himself forwards. He landed in front of the horse. 

 

Yuri regretted this immediately when he realized this enabled Otabek to look down on him again. And though the knight had  _ sounded  _ annoyed, he’d appeared to have recovered very quickly. Yuri silently cursed. In front of him, Otabek crossed his arms, though his facial expression did not change much. “Could you move?”

 

Otabek’s vexed tone helped calm Yuri a little bit. Once, he would have looked at Otabek’s stoic face and thought the knight unbothered, but now Yuri could see the unnaturally stiff way Otabek was holding himself, the lack of the word ‘please’- the knight was irritated. 

 

_ Good,  _ thought Yuri, feeling remarkably pleased.

 

“I would appreciate it,” Otabek’s voice was tight, “If you would allow me to go on my way.”

 

Yuri smiled at him, all wide-eyed innocence, and did not move. 

 

There were a few beats of silence, in which Otabek seemed to realize he would not move, and Yuri enjoyed seeing the slight way the knight’s mouth tensed when the realization hit him. Yuri continued to stand in front of his horse, the picture of perfect calm, but his pulse was beating quickly, like a hummingbird flapping its wings, as he waited to see what Otabek would do. He knew he’d do something, but still he did not expect it when Otabek swung off his horse, the sound of his feet hitting the ground making something in Yuri’s stomach leap. He felt positively giddy with anticipation, the tension in the air was palpable as he waited to see what was going to happen next.

 

_ Come at me,  _ he thought,  _ fight me. Try to.  _

 

But Otabek did not leap at Yuri, though he couldn’t tell whether or not this fact disappointed him, because though Otabek never seemed to measure up to Yuri’s expectations, it had stopped bothering him as much as it used to. The knight was tense, but his hand did not stray to the sword at his side, nor did he seem inclined to do so. Appearances could be deceiving, of course, but something told Yuri that wasn’t the case. 

 

Instead, the knight took one step forwards, then two, then three- Yuri’s eyes did not stray from Otabek as he made his way over, closing the distance between them slowly but surely. 

 

Finally, just under a meter away from Yuri, Otabek stopped walking. Yuri lifted his head to look at Otabek. His eyes held Yuri’s gaze steadily, and Yuri was reminded of the time they’d first met each other, staring at each other not like unlike they were now. It seemed like ages ago, as if it’d happened in another life. Everything had changed since then- no, that wasn’t quite right. What was it he’d thought about Otabek? That the knight was unmovable? That still held true. 

 

(Somehow.)

 

There was a beat of silence, neither person willing to be the first person to look away. Yuri distantly noted there was sweat trickling down his back, and also on Otabek’s neck, between the crook of his shoulder and his head. It bothered him for no reason- he wanted to dry it, though he was not sure whose he was talking about. He also noticed, this one more prominently, that Otabek looked tired too, though not as tired as Yuri. His hair was tousled just a little and his armour, reflecting the sun’s rays, was almost physically painful to look at, for more than their blinding light. He wondered if wearing it bore down on Otabek at all. 

 

Yuri was acutely aware that fatigue hung over his own shoulders, making them feel ten times as heavy as they normally did. His shoulders ached, he realized, because he was raising them in anger and defiance. He couldn’t help but slump a little bit, and as he did so he realized how tired he was- he just really wanted to sleep. It’d been an exhausting week. He didn’t know if the knight felt the same way, if he went through some magical epiphany arc or whatever, but Yuri could have sworn that something shifted in the atmosphere, then, not all at once but gradually, like lowering yourself into a cold lake of acceptance. Wind swirled around them, a calming gesture, as if to speak to how true those words were. 

 

Suddenly, it didn’t feel like the time for a fight. 

 

“Look,” Otabek said, calm and cool as ever. He wondered if it had been the knight’s plan all along, to wait out Yuri’s frustration until common sense took over. “We can’t afford any arguments. You know that.”

 

The painful truth was that he did know it, and try as he might the tension between them lessened as if his silent agreement was spoken aloud- this acknowledgement that there was no sense in fighting, because any fight would drain their energy and leave this already unstable team in shambles. 

 

As much as Yuri longed for one, he did not value punching Otabek’s face over his magic. He knew it, the knight knew it. He saw Otabek’s body relax, the knight preparing to hoist himself back onto his horse- 

 

And he saw it then, in the way Otabek’s eyes went wide and his body tensed, the split second of warning he had before arrows were streaking through the air, and one word came to mind:  _ bandits _ . 

 

Everything went to hell very quickly. Yuri didn’t have a clue what was happening around him. By some miracle he avoided being hit by an arrow, but that didn’t mean he was safe. He’d turned to look behind him on impulse, and somehow in the chaos this had resulted in him losing sight of the knight. There were screams in the air, Yuri heard roars and the clashing of swords. The sun was in his eyes, blinding him, and his heart was beating so quickly it felt like it was going to burst out of his chest.

 

_ thump thump thump thump thump _

 

There was a man close to Yuri, too close for comfort. He was an archer, with muscled arms and a bow and quiver strung over his back. They were too close for him to shoot, but one look at those muscled arms told him Yuri’s chances were low nonetheless. 

 

_ thump thump thump thump thump _

 

_ Run,  _ half of his brain screamed, while the other half bellowed  _ fight.  _

 

The man began to approach, and Yuri thought that his stature and speed was reminiscent of a charging bull. Then Yuri stopped thinking. The man was already in front of him. He felt scorching pain across his torso. The man managed to punch him twice before Yuri could retaliate, causing him to stagger back. 

 

Yuri balled his hands into fists, and tried to punch back, his thoughts on getting the man away from him. But instead arms grabbed his hips, strong enough to bruise, and the world turned upside down. He felt himself soar through the air, wind licking at his sides, and hit the ground hard. His eyesight went black. He tasted dirt and blood. The sun continued to beat down on Yuri, and when he tried to scramble up it was through a haze of pain that he saw his attacker nock an arrow. 

 

One thought passed through his mind-  _ don’t die _ . 

 

He conjured a ball of fire. 

 

Later, he would berate himself for not doing this sooner; later, when he was safe, he would wonder why it hadn’t occured to him to use magic before this moment. But now, when he was still half-blind from the afternoon sun and moments away from death, Yuri seemed to only feel, and fear. 

 

He could see people fighting to his sides. The entire right side of his body was encompassed with pain. His attacker had fired an arrow at him, and he swung his arm up, and saw the arrow and flame meet. He could feel the heat it emitted, it made him sweat even more. 

 

It also gave him a moment to think. These bandits had weapons, sure, but he had magic, and he was not going down without a fight. Fear was quick to breed fury, and Yuri fired off a succession of quick spells- not fire ones, this time, he’d quickly realized that that was a terrible idea, in a forest. 

 

But the brief moment of a clear head was gone. His thoughts could not seem to get themselves beyond basic commands. He couldn’t think. On instinct, he scoured the area for Otabek, the only familiar thing in this situation. 

 

The knight was fighting on the opposite side of the road, quite a distance away. Yuri couldn’t believe they’d managed to get so separated- no, of course they’d managed to get separated, they were barely even a team! The bandits must have been following them for a while now, eager to get their hands on a knight and a fae, two people who would not usually have proved easy targets except for the fact that they obviously didn’t like each other. 

 

And Yuri remembered something Victor had told him, once, in a moment of rare wisdom-  _ to not get along with your ally is military stupidity.  _

 

Like it or not, he had been stupid. So stupid that he had put himself at risk, and Yuri felt rage boil in him. He was Yuri Plisetsky, a noble, a guardian fae- he wasn’t going to die here, surrounded by these bastards, these arrogant assholes that had to gang up on people to fight them and a slightly less asshole-y knight. He would not. He wouldn’t let himself. 

 

The anger pooling in his stomach was familiar, it was the same sensation he’d gotten twice before- once with Otabek and the other with Yakov. Except this time, he was not completely consumed with blind rage or in danger of breaking rules, this time, his fury could be used to his benefit. Yuri held tight to his emotions and wielded them like a blade, using all his willpower to gather up a bubble of magic into a tightly wound up ball, compressing it, molding it, and then when Yuri could hold it no longer he  _ released- _

 

A shield spell sprung into place, so full of force and anger that it sent all the bandits flying, rolling limb over limb as many slammed into trees, the sound of the collision insuring they wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon. Others hit the ground and were knocked unconscious. 

 

The few that had not been captured in Yuri’s spell were the ones that had already been dealt with, it seemed. Some of the bandits lay at Otabek’s feet, and Yuri had to admit it was no small number for one person to take down. 

 

It struck him, then, the outcome of this battle. They’d won. They were safe. 

 

Yuri released a breath he hadn’t released he’d been holding, feeling as if he’d spent hours fighting instead of minutes. His heart was beating fast and loud, like a hammer was striking an anvil with every pulse. He was still dazed, but adrenaline was wearing off, and exhaustion from the battle was making his body shake.

 

Yuri hadn’t expected this. That hadn’t been like any fight he’d been in before. Hell, he hadn’t been in a _real_ fight before- he wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but definitely not what he’d just faced. He thought he’d known how to fight, after all, hadn’t he bested so many knights before? But he realized now, that what he’d had at the river was actually quite structured, with rules and routine. More importantly, he’d never truly believed his life was in danger before, which in turn had granted him the ability to look at an opponent and think, instead of losing himself in a messy, chaotic struggle. 

  
Even things that had seemed reasonable at the time, like his shield, could have been disastrous. If it had lacked force, then some of the attackers might have gotten right back up. Then they might have had an advantage, with the arrows they were carrying. Or he could have knocked out Otabek, and lost an ally. 

 

Lost in his thoughts, it took a while before Yuri noticed anything else around him. But then a movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he turned, scowling. 

 

“What are you doing?” Yuri demanded, seeing Otabek attempt to reach inside his horse’s satchel with no success whatsoever. A quick glance at the knight revealed that the knight’s arm was bleeding, and he was trying to open the satchel without hurting himself. Otabek wasn’t succeeding, if the grimace on his face was anything to go by. Yuri stomped over and grabbed the back of his shirt, making sure not to touch anywhere that had visible injuries. “You’ll make it worse!”

 

“I’m trying to get bandages,” The knight replied, and Yuri huffed before he realized the knight was serious. 

 

“But why-” and then he stopped, because he did know why, he’d just forgotten that humans don’t heal the way fae do. Huh, that must be annoying. More than that, it was awfully inconvenient. He couldn’t have that. So he reevaluated his words and said, “This works better than bandages.”

 

And he placed his hand over Otabek’s arm, hovering just a few centimeters above it. Otabek started to open his mouth, perhaps to ask what Yuri was doing, but then a golden glow began pulsating through the air and the knight’s fading injuries spoke for themselves. Yuri watched as Otabek stared in what might be awe at the way the cut stopped bleeding, then closed, then turned into a scar which turned into a pink line until it finally faded into nothingness. 

 

There was a beat of silence until finally the knight whispered, “Wow.”

 

“Cool, huh?” Yuri couldn’t help but feel ridiculously proud of himself -a simple healing spell was nothing to be proud of, but he’d struggled with them in the past so it felt nice to succeed for once. Even better to have someone acknowledge his skills. 

 

“Very,” said Otabek, and before Yuri knew it a tint of pink blossomed across his cheeks and the back of his neck. He ignored this weird reaction and instead averted his gaze to look at the trees, which suddenly seemed very interesting. They were a brilliant shade of green. 

 

When he glanced back, the knight had looked away too and was now surveying the bandits that lay limply on the ground, popping up in your vision here and there like a bunch of obnoxious weeds. He watched as Otabek poked one with his foot. The knight asked, “Out of curiousity, is there anything else you can do with that fae magic of yours?”

 

On reflex, Yuri scoffed. Catching Otabek’s look he hurriedly added, “Not like that- it’s a good question, but also a loaded one. There’s  _ much _ more I can do.”

 

Too late, he wondered if Otabek would take that as a threat when (for once) that had not been his intention. But the knight seemed content with his response, and had a different path to steer the conversation. “Can you teleport people to places?”

 

Yuri felt like he’d mentioned this before. “No.”

 

Otabek’s forehead creased slightly, like the man was confused. “Forgive my rudeness, but may I ask why? I know you said you couldn’t teleport yourself, but...”

 

“ _ Oh _ ,” said Yuri, understanding finally dawning upon him. He gazed around at the fallen with a look of derision on his face. “What, you want to move them somewhere?”

 

“Ideally. I’d feel uncomfortable leaving them out here,” Otabek admitted, “Knowing they can just get up and attack another group of people makes me uneasy. But it would be difficult to move them all with just the two of us.”

 

Yuri paused, thinking. “I see your point. Unfortunately, I can’t move them all. Teleportation requires a lot of skill and energy… which I have,” he added, just so the knight didn’t get any funny ideas, “But like, teleportation is essentially moving from one place to another, even when you’ve never been there, it’s. Um.”

 

He had to pause again to think about it. Part of Yuri didn’t understand why he was explaining this to the knight, but Otabek looked genuinely interested, so he continued. “Imagine the world is a piece of cloth that’s spread out on a table or something. Point is, it’s not folded or creased or whatever. One location on the earth is one spot on the cloth, and another place on earth is another spot. These places, whether they’re close or far apart, don’t touch each other. They have different locations, and usually to get from one to another you’d have to travel the distance between them. Teleportation would be like folding that cloth, the fabric of the world, so that they  _ are  _ in the same place, and so that you can just concentrate on to where you want to go, then smooth the cloth back over so you’re there…”

 

He faltered slightly. Did that make sense? Yuri wasn’t sure, but whatever. “Anyways, it’s really complicated and I haven’t learned it yet. Victor says I can’t until I’m older, but he’s an idiot, so fuck him. I’m not that young.”

 

“I see,” Otabek said. “Is it common for fae your age to know how to teleport?”

 

“No, but I’m better than most fae my age,” Yuri said in total seriousness. He half expected Otabek to call him arrogant (which many people have before), but instead the knight turned to scan the field again, looking a tad more concerned this time. Yuri pursed his lips. “We really need to think of a solution, huh?” 

 

Otabek didn’t reply, instead moving to the satchel, his movements much easier now that he had healed. Again, the feeling of pride swelled and Yuri felt warm in a way that had nothing to do with the weather. The knight took out his map and traced the path they were on with his finger. “The nearest village on our path is a week’s ride away. We can’t possibly take them all that far.”

 

“How busy is this road?” Yuri asked. “If it’s frequented often, we could just tie them up and leave them here for someone else to deal with.”

 

“Good point,” Otabek looked at the map, considering. “I do believe that patrols pass by here at least once every two days, so that should work.”

 

With the problem solved, Yuri turned to spell some rope, neatly tying the bandits up with pretty little bows. But after he did so, his body nearly gave out from everything they’d been doing the past few days, and he couldn’t help but stumble. 

 

“Are you injured?” said Otabek, the knight glancing at him assessingly even as he said the words. “You just showed you can heal-”

 

“No, I’m fine, it’s just that I’m-” Yuri just managed to catch himself before he said  _ tired,  _ but the awkward pause and eye contact with Otabek made him feel like the knight knew all the same. 

 

To his surprise, however, Otabek didn’t seem to find this as humiliating as he did. “That’s normal. Adrenaline tends to tire you out.”

 

If Yuri had been drinking water, he’d have spit it all out. “ _ What _ ?”

 

“I said-”

 

“Isn’t it supposed to _ help _ in a fight?”

 

“No, though it’s a common misconception,” Otabek said calmly. “It focuses you on not dying, but that actually robs you of your fighting ability.”

 

“I have been living a lie,” Yuri said blankly, less embarrassed and more irritated, now. “And here I thought I could pull off a cool battle move or something.”

 

Otabek tilted his head ever so slightly. “Isn’t the magic you can do cool enough?”

 

Damn it, what was with this knight and his compliments?!

 

“They’re okay, I guess,” Yuri said. “But they didn’t really work until the end- I was losing pretty badly beforehand. Even considering adrenaline.”

 

Otabek looked away and shrugged. “Don’t blame yourself, none of us were at our physical best. All that riding I did left me stiff. Honestly, I think I’ll probably walk for a while.”

 

Yuri frowned, not sure what Otabek meant to achieve by telling him this. 

 

“The thing is, then Serik will barely have anything to do,” Otabek continued on, “So do you mind riding for a bit?”

 

And that’s when he realized what Otabek’s plan was. He had noticed Yuri’s exhaustion, but was offering the fae a way out instead of bluntly confronting him about it. 

 

Part of Yuri, the part that had slammed Otabek into the tree all those days before, wanted to say no. Despite everything that had occurred between them, a voice inside him was screaming to never let his guard down, because who knows what the knight might want in return for his kindness?

 

But-  _ but _ . Otabek hadn’t done anything against him so far, had spoken against them fighting, and had fought against the bandits with him. And whatever feelings Yuri had about the knight, his earlier words were right- if they continued to bicker with each other all the time, they would die before they killed the dragon. 

 

Distantly, he remembered something else Victor had said, before-  _ as long as someone’s your ally, you don’t have to like them. They just have to be on your side.  _

 

Yuri hadn’t gotten it then. He felt like he understood it better now. Gazing at the horse, Yuri came to a decision. “Alright. But, um, lets take a break first.”

 

They ended up resting for about half an hour, until Otabek had spotted one of the bandits beginning to stir. They then started to prepare to leave, and Yuri had to tackle to task of mounting a horse. 

 

He shuffled his way over to it, startling when it swung its head to look at him. There was an awkward moment of silence where Yuri could have sworn he had a stare down with an animal, of all things, during which he realized very suddenly that he did not know how to get on a horse. 

 

Out of a momentary lapse of sanity, Yuri glanced at Otabek. The knight, realizing his plight, moved forwards to help him. In the same instant Yuri drew back, not wanting the assistance and regretting the sudden impulse he’d had before. “It’s okay, I’ll be fine-”

 

He made a clumsy attempt to get on the saddle, grabbing a handful of the horse’s mane and trying to swing himself over. But it didn’t work, and Yuri fell onto the ground. He could have sworn he heard a muffled laugh as he did so. 

 

When he glanced over, however, Otabek’s expression was suspiciously blank. He narrowed his eyes.

 

“I’m fine,” Yuri said again, heading off a reprimand that hadn’t come. As if to mock him, the horse swung it’s head to fix Yuri with what he could have sworn was a look of derision. Yuri glared at him.  _ Not you, too.  _

 

Deciding that he was completely and utterly fed up with horses and horse owners, Yuri abandoned his previous method of mounting a horse. Instead, he simply flew on top of the creature instead and lowered himself down, Otabek watching him from the side with a pensive expression.

 

“What?” snapped Yuri. 

 

Otabek averted his eyes and said nothing. 

 

(Wise.)

  
He then took the horse’s reins in his hands and looked back at Yuri, a silent question, which (after a moment of thought) Yuri nodded at. Otabek walked in front of the horse, guiding them on their way, but as they set off again, once more in silence, Yuri couldn’t shake the feeling that something between them had changed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You don't know how hard I made myself laugh when I wrote "You don't have to like them" ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)  
> On another note, are these chapters getting too long? In the beginning I worried they were too short but now... I just worry a lot in general... please tell me what you think guys....


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> By the second day after the attack, they’d fallen into a sort of routine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ARGGGGGGH I feel really shitty because all my updates come later than I want them to and every time there seems to be an endless list of excuses. Even though I knew starting a story during a busy semester was a terrible idea, it didn't really hit me how terrible it was until I barely had time to breath let alone write. The good news is now that exam's are over I'll have much more time. I plan to write a lot more... lets hope I stick to it.

By the second day after the attack, they’d fallen into a sort of routine.

 

In the mornings, Otabek woke up first, and always ridiculously early in Yuri’s opinion. The knight was an early riser -even worse, he was a productive person that got to business and skillfully ignored Yuri’s groans as the fae tried to motivate himself into sitting up. By the time he’d done it, Otabek had usually finished cooking breakfast, the smell of which would rouse him for good.

 

Then, Otabek and him would say good morning to the other. Breakfast was spent in silence, except for the occasional request. Over the course of their meals Yuri had asked Otabek to pass the butter again multiple times, and each time the words lost a bit of the awkwardness they’d had mere days before. 

 

When setting out, Yuri and Otabek took turns riding Serik. Otabek would walk when it wasn’t his turn and Yuri would fly when it wasn’t his. Thanks to the switches, though, Yuri’s wings never got as sore as they did before and he could actually take the time to enjoy the scenery. And what a scene it was.

 

The forest in which they were travelling was full of lush green trees, all of which lined the sides of the dirt path. He saw birds of every colour soar above, like multi-coloured jewels shining in the sunlight, and he admired them until one nearly took a shit on his head (He liked birds considerably less after that). But there were other animals, too, such as squirrels, who scurried above on the branches of trees, and rabbits, which were pretty cute. Yuri even spotted a deer leaping through the depths of a forest, quick as can be, before it was gone. 

 

Furthering this good mood was the sudden decrease in temperature. It wasn’t cold, but the heat had stopped acting like it was going to kill someone, which was appreciated by him and Otabek both. Yuri much preferred not feeling like he was going to drown in his own sweat. In front of him, Otabek stopped walking, making Yuri (who was riding Serik) snap to attention. “Switch?”

 

“Sure,” Yuri said, and flew out of the saddle. He’d never learned how to get on and off a horse properly, and frankly, he did not want to start. It looked easy when Otabek did it, but he knew from experience that it could be a nuisance. There was a moment of silence while the knight mounted the horse, and afterwards, they continued on like usual. 

 

Just then, a flock of birds soared overhead, causing him to scowl and duck. But then he realized that wasn’t going to help him dodge their feces if they decided to let loose, and he scowled harder for that. 

 

Otabek took notice of his sudden flight pattern and looked up. “What’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing,” said Yuri, a reflex. But Otabek didn’t stay quiet. 

 

“That didn’t seem like nothing. Do you not like birds?”

 

And  _ this _ , this was the other, final part of the routine- the one Yuri understood the least. He wasn’t sure when, but somehow after the last few days had passed, they had started to have  _ conversations _ . 

 

Real conversations, not just the small snippets of interaction they usually did. It’d started with the knight, who mentioned something offhandedly about the weather one day -then the vegetation, and even the food. And eventually, after the knight had made a spectacular fall over a birch tree branch, Yuri had stopped laughing after a mere two minutes to quip about how there was a fae dessert made from birch bark. Otabek looked surprised- Yuri didn’t blame him, he himself didn’t quite understand why he was contributing to the conversation instead of letting it die like it usually did. But oddly, he didn’t regret it. 

 

Especially not when Otabek got over his surprise and turned to him with genuine curiosity in his eyes. “Really? What’s it called?” 

 

And afterwards, Otabek started taking the time to point out things around them, things that Yuri, having spent most of his life near a river, wasn’t used to seeing. The knight showed him tricks to identify animal tracks and talked about training as a knight. And in turn, Yuri spoke a bit about his life, little bits and pieces about what his day would usually be like and even a bit about Yuuri and Victor. 

 

_ “They’re so disgusting,” Yuri complained. “Every time I go over to the lake, they’re like, all over each other.” _

 

_ “Then why do you even go?” Otabek asked.  _

 

_ “I get bored,” I enjoy their company, they’re friends even though I want to stab them sometimes. “And the pig makes good pork cutlet bowls.”  _

 

_ “What’s that?” _

 

_ “This dish, with pork and egg and rice,” Yuri said. “It’s even better when you take the ingredients and put them in a bun -I tried that once and it was the best thing I’d ever tasted, ever.” _

 

_ Otabek looked a little envious. “That sounds good.” _

 

_ “Trust me, it is.” _

 

Now, with this new scenery around him and this new, tentative camaraderie, Yuri couldn’t stop himself from saying, “Hate them.” 

 

Otabek made an  _ of course  _ noise (a huffy little sound combined with a snort) as Yuri continued on. “Is there any way to get them not to take a piss on your head?”

 

“Wear a hat.”

 

“Then I’ll have to clean it. Let me reiterate- is there something that will get them to avoid my general vicinity?” 

 

Otabek paused, and Yuri was surprised to see that he seemed to be giving the question some serious thought. “Scarecrows. Loud noises. Maybe a spell, if you can do that. And animals they don’t like- cats?”

 

“I wish I had a cat, then,” Yuri groused, “They seem cool.”

 

“You would like cats,” Otabek said, looking amused. “Figures.”

 

Yuri caught his good mood and scowled. “What’s so funny about that?”

 

“You remind me of one, that’s all,” was the knight’s only reply. Yuri tried to figure out if he was insulting him somehow, but couldn’t think of a way it did. He caught himself, quickly. If he was going to assume everything the knight did was done to spite him, they’d never get anywhere. It’d been a good conversation so far. The past days had been almost pleasant.  _ Stupid _ , he thought to himself.  _ Get along. Or try to. _ Yuri attempted to draw himself together, but now that he had the slightest inclination of talking, he couldn’t think of anything to say. By the time he thought of something, the flow of the conversation was lost and any attempt at a reply would have been awkward, so he ended up staying silent. 

 

The third day after the attack was when Yuri realized he didn’t know how long it was going to take to get to their destination. He vaguely remembered Otabek mentioning it, but he’d long since forgotten. Yuri tilted his head down (He was flying when the thought occurred), and said, “Hey, how long is it going to take to get to the village?”

 

“Why? Are you bored?”

 

“Maybe.”

 

“Well then, continue to be bored, because it’ll take four more days at the least.”

 

Yuri groaned audibly, and he heard something suspiciously like a laugh below. “Hey, are you laughing at me?”

 

“No,” said the knight, in a tone that really said yes. “But I think that if that’s your reaction to hearing how long it’s going to take to get to the first village, then I can only imagine what your reaction will be for the rest of the trip. The travelling part of a Quest is usually boring, so if it’s excitement you want, you’ll have to wait for a while.”

 

“Yeah, you just said the trip takes four days.”

 

Otabek shook his head. “That’s not what I meant.”

 

Yuri couldn’t help but frown, confused. “Then what do you mean?”

 

“I mean that even once we get to the village, it might not be very exciting,” Otabek said, shrugging. “Unless you think meeting a lot of humans is exciting.”

 

Yuri had met lots of humans before, and most of his memories were not very impressive. He was about to drop the subject when Otabek continued on. “Actually, I find meeting fae much more interesting.”

 

Yuri thought back to the knight’s previous remarks about his species. “I distinctly remember you insulting us.”

 

“I didn’t insult you, I just said that you guys don’t like people trespassing on your territory.”

 

“Aha!” Yuri pointed a finger at him. “So you admit that it  _ is _ trespassing!”

 

Otabek’s face briefly twisted into an  _ oh shit  _ expression before he composed himself. “Well, that’s how fae take it, so I got confused for a second and said that.”

 

“A likely story,” said Yuri, whose voice said he didn’t believe Otabek one bit. 

 

“It  _ is _ .”

 

“Riiight.”

 

Otabek made the weird huff-snort sound again, but he didn’t seem too annoyed. “Well, whatever it is, it’s not wrong. And if fae are anything it’s interesting.”

 

Yuri raised an eyebrow. “In what way?”

 

“Well,” said Otabek. “Many. Should I list all the creative death threats I’ve received over the years, the torture methods I’ve heard, or even the weird requests  that I’ve had to fulfill to continue my journeys first?”

 

“ _ Weird _ things?” Yuri asked, scrunching his nose in confusion. “Don’t you mean hard?”

 

Otabek muttered something suspiciously like  _ of course that’s the one you focus on  _ before clearing his throat and saying, “Usually the tasks are hard, yes, but occasionally I get the fae that wants me to compose a love sonnet for a rock, or dance the tango upside down, or even just leave a bag of troll feces on someone’s doorstep.”

 

“And you do those things?”

 

“Well, I don’t get to pass if I don’t. The last fae even threatened to throw the feces at me if I didn’t.”

 

Yuri shook his head in disbelief. “How did they even find-”

 

“Didn’t ask. Smartest thing I’ve ever done, probably.”

 

“And the easiest, if all you had to do was cart a sack somewhere to receive free passage.”

 

“I beg to differ,” said Otabek, just the slightest bit defensively, “Have you ever been near troll feces? They’re big. And heavy. And they smell like shit, because you know, they are.”

 

Unbidden, an image of Otabek came to mind -the knight heaving a large, bulky parcel onto someone’s doorstep in what was both a dangerous and ridiculous gesture, breaths heavy and eyes focused. He could probably do it, too, Yuri thought, studying the breadth of his arms, trying to judge how much weight they could hold. Otabek could probably carry all sorts of loads and-  _ end this train of thought.  _

 

Yuri shook his head violently, trying to clear his mind. His cheeks were aflame, for some strange reason. Otabek saw his gesture and mistook it for denial.

 

(Which it was, but of a different kind entirely.)

 

“No really, if you don’t believe me-”

 

“I believe you,” Yuri said, voice struggling to stay even. His voice sounded a little odd, and he hoped Otabek wouldn’t notice. “If that was what you had to deal with from fae, then I suppose we are the more interesting species after all.”

 

“Of that I have no doubt.”

 

“Hmmm,” Yuri said, but he couldn’t think of a way to continue the conversation -he jolted, wondering why he even wanted to continue the conversation- and as if sensing his thoughts, Otabek fell silent. 

 

It was a nicer silence than it had been, before. 

 

The next day, Yuri broke the routine by waking up earlier than he usually did. He groaned, turning to the side, desperately wanting to fall asleep again. But he had a burning desire to ah,  _ relieve himself,  _ so he stumbled upright, rubbing his eyes. 

 

Otabek was gone. 

 

It was the first thing he realised, staring blearily at the spot where the knight had been the evening prior. It took him a while to realise there was no shape on the ground in the darkness, but when he did, Yuri’s thoughts spiralled into chaos.

 

Where had he gone? What had happened? For a brief moment of panic, Yuri worried that the knight had ridden off, leaving him alone- but no, Serik was still here and Otabek wouldn’t leave Serik. His next thoughts trailed to kidnapping or another attack, but after having the chat about Yuri’s powers they’d (or rather, Yuri had) started setting up alarm spells around them as they slept instead of staying up to keep watch. None of them had gone off, so that meant Otabek had left of his own volition. 

 

And then, as if being struck by a bolt of lightning, Yuri realised what had happened. 

 

(How could he have not thought of it earlier?)

 

Otabek, like Yuri, must have woken up to take a dump. Well. This might be slightly awkward. Yuri had no desire to go traipsing into the woods when he might spot Otabek in there, um, with his pants down, and yet he didn’t want to stay up waiting for the knight to come back. His bladder demanded immediate action. 

 

(Damn that knight, for choosing such a terrible time to go missing!)

 

Yuri groaned and buried his head into his pillow, before dragging himself out of bed with even more groaning. He’d just have to hope for the best, then. 

 

The forest was dark, so Yuri quickly cast a light spell before heading off. While it ensured he could see his way, the shadows surrounding him almost made him wish he could see nothing at all. Though Yuri had never considered himself to be afraid of the dark, it was hard not to be disconcerted by the seemingly endless crooks and crannies the forest had to offer. 

 

Yuri stepped over a log, careful to not trip and fall over anything. Finally, he reached a place he thought would do -it was a nice, secluded area behind a tree- and he figured he might as well do it now, since he didn’t want to go too far, lest he forget his way back. Yuri extinguished the light and-

 

A twig snapped. 

 

An embarrassingly long, high pitched scream came from nearby. It took an even longer, more embarrassing few seconds to realize it was him. In his blind panic, Yuri turned and did exactly what he’d been so careful to not do moments before, tripping over the log and falling- 

 

-right onto someone. It took a while for Yuri to realize that he wasn’t in extreme pain, with his head on the dirt floor, but rather sitting on a comfortable surface. When he finally mustered up the control to cast the light spell again, however, he really, really wished he hadn’t. 

 

Pinned beneath him, with one of Yuri’s legs on either one of his sides, was Otabek. Otabek, who had broken Yuri’s fall. Otabek, who was currently staring at him in shock, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Otabek, who he was basically straddling. 

 

(Yuri was pretty sure his face was on fire, if the heat in his cheeks was anything to go by.)

 

The knight opened his mouth, and Yuri could only imagine what he’d say. Faster than he thought possible, Yuri scrambled off the knight in a much less dignified manner than he’d ever admit. Otabek sat up, oddly quiet, and Yuri hurriedly began talking, trying to explain himself. 

 

“I didn’t mean to- that is- I was going to relieve myself- speaking of which, I’ll uh, do that now, that is-” Yuri made a vague gesture around him, “Not here.”

 

And he took off in a random direction, blushing furiously. 

 

To his great relief, Otabek was sleeping when he made his way back to the camp, and the next couple of days went by without incident (though he found it hard to meet Otabek’s eyes without cringing internally). The knight appeared to have taken Yuri’s unwillingness to talk as a sign that the incident should be ignored, to his great relief. 

 

Yuri spent those days being bored. Usually he looked around, alternating between trying to spot animals darting between trees and trying to avoid birds flying overhead. Unfortunately, this quickly became boring- there was only so long trees and animals could hold your attention. Maybe that was why, about a week after the attack, his gaze immediately snagged on a certain point in the distance, prompting him to rub his eyes and blink. Was that a  _ roof _ ?

 

Intrigued, he flew higher and- yes, yes that was definitely a roof, in fact, there were multiple roofs cresting over the top of the hill, and they were all attached to houses. There were buildings. It was a town!

 

They’d arrived at long last. 

 

“We’re here!” Yuri called down. Otabek glanced at him and shot him a thumbs up. Feeling buoyed by happiness Yuri soared ahead, trying to get a better glimpse of the area. He flew above the rooftops, admiring the structure of the buildings and the architecture. He’d never been to a town before, but in his mind, when he’d thought about it (He would never admit it to Otabek, especially since the knight had painted it as no big deal, but he was still excited about seeing a village) Yuri had always imagined something like the Fae Court, which was probably the closest equivalent his species had. Fae were solitary creatures by nature, though they did like company once in awhile. However, the Fae Court, the undisputed center of their world, was an exception to that rule. There, the royal family ruled from their glistening castle complete with turrets and fountains, surrounded by walls climbing with ivy and statues made of crystal. Yuri hadn’t been there in a while, but he remembered the sight of it as clear as day. Especially the gleaming square below the castle, which was surrounded by the mansions of the noble houses, each with a representative that sat on the Council- Leroy, Chulanont, Giacometti, Nikiforov, Pli-

 

Yuri shook his head. He was getting off track. He gazed back down at the village, it’s small thatched roofs with their comforting shades of brown, smoke puffing out of chimneys in grey swirls. 

 

Mesmerized and oddly giddy with happiness Yuri flew closer, colours mixing in the edge of his peripherals as he zipped his way to the very edge of the town. He nearly soared over it, and he desperately wanted to, but caught himself at the last second. What if the villagers were shocked to see a fae? Would they even know what he was? After all, he’d never seen a human village before, so it made sense that a human village might not have seen his kind. The last thing he wanted was to be shot out of the air by a well meaning villager- he’d narrowly escaped death by archer before, and he did not want to test his luck again. Reluctantly, Yuri cast one last look over the rooftops and circled back to where Otabek was riding with Serik. 

 

“How was it?” Otabek asked. Yuri gave a small shrug, not wanting to show how excited he was. 

 

(He was pretty sure he was failing, but hey, it never hurt to try.)

 

“It looked fine.”

 

“Did the villagers greet you well?”

 

Yuri shot him a weird look. “I didn’t get  _ that _ close.”

 

Otabek’s eyebrows came together just so, and Yuri realized the knight was genuinely confused. “Why not?”

 

“I assumed,” Yuri hesitated for a moment, the logic that seemed natural moments before oddly embarrassing now, “That I might not be welcome.”

 

“Don’t worry about that,” said Otabek, “They may stare a bit, especially the children at first, but not all of it will be unfriendly and no one will harm you. Once they see you with a knight they’ll know you’re on important business, and once they see you often enough they’ll get used to it. This town is en route for many Questers during their journeys, so everyone here is at least somewhat used to seeing odd sights. However weird you may think you are, the villagers have seen weirder.”

 

“I’m not weird,” Yuri said, swelling with indignation. 

 

“Then there won’t be a problem,” Otabek replied coolly, and with that, they arrived for real. 

 

It was frustrating, Yuri thought, but no matter how annoying Otabek’s words were, in this case, they were correct. It became painfully obvious during the first few minutes of arrival that, despite being the object of many curious glances, no one would attack him. Otabek’s armour and horse proclaimed he was a knight on a mission, and the villagers would not dishonour that. 

 

Otabek swung off his horse, wincing a little as his feet touched the ground. He looked a little tired.

 

“Lets split up,” He suggested, “I’ll get the food and you can shop for supplies.”

 

“Okay,” Yuri agreed. The knight handed over some cash in a small brown pouch, and they separated.

 

Yuri wandered off slowly, wondering where he should head first. He turned many heads as he did so, from the discrete watchers to the children openly gawking at his wings, but people still steered clear. Nonetheless, within a few minutes everyone in town seemed to know they were harbouring a fae through the miraculous thing that was a village’s grapevine. Humans had invented letters, Yuri knew, but they seemed to use word of mouth much more effectively.

 

The village was beautiful, Yuri noted with a detached sort of wonder. Never before had he seen so many houses -there were rows and rows of the things, and though they looked pretty similar from a distance, now he could see they were in all sorts of sizes and colours. He’d never seen so many people before, either, since fae didn’t usually live together in big groups. But here, he could see people of all ages without turning his head. There was a red haired girl shopping with her blond haired girlfriend, a group of children playing some sort of jumping game on the side of the street, and multiple vendors shouting out the prices of their wares. There were shops of all different shapes and sizes: a hat shop, a clothing shop, and even flower shop, full to the brim with brightly coloured flora. The one that really caught his eye, however, was the sweets shop he passed, which had windows full of glazed cakes and swirling lollipops that drew him in like a moth to the flame. Yuri couldn’t help but press his nose up against the glass for a good look. 

 

So absorbed by observing the town was he, that it was only after a good fifteen minutes did realization hit him over the head like a sledgehammer. 

 

“ _ Fuck, _ ” Yuri said. A nearby woman gave him a dirty look and yanked her child away, but he barely noticed it happening. He’d wandered around some more and was staring at the display sign outside of the blacksmith’s store when he realized it, or more specifically, staring at the clearly marked price sign. 

 

The fact that he did not have enough money to afford the products was not the problem. Or maybe it was, he couldn’t be sure. Which was the problem. 

 

Before him, the price sign loomed like a sign of his failure, and Yuri groaned. 

 

The problem, simply put, was that he didn’t know shit about human currency. Yuri had no fucking idea what any of the coins he was holding was worth. 

 

(It took all his energy to keep from screaming.)

 

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.  _ Stupid _ . Now he’d have to find Otabek now and explain, Yuri thought, cheeks reddening, this was going to be humiliating. 

 

And hard. How was he even going to find him?

 

Pivoting back and scowling furiously, Yuri stomped off in the direction he’d come from. The streets seemed much less welcoming now, the stares much more infuriating. He turned back past the sweets shop, cursing it for looking so damn tasty and himself for standing there. If only he’d left earlier! Then the knight wouldn’t have made it as far as he surely had now. 

 

He turned left onto another street, trying to remember the way he came and hoping against all reason that the knight would still be somewhere near there. Yuri made his way past the flower shop, scowling at the couple buying flowers together, and strode past a clothing shop as well. But for the life of him he couldn’t remember the first shop he’d seen… had it been a bookstore? Or maybe not a shop at all, but a tower of some kind?

 

_ Bakery, butcher, barber,  _ Yuri thought, running through a list of possible options. He shook his head in anger, trying to stop thinking of ones with the letter b.  _ Shoe shop, liquor store... _

 

Nothing seemed right. For what seemed like the thousandth time in the past few hours, Yuri groaned. He was going to have to talk to someone, it seemed. 

 

He turned another corner, silently judging everyone around him and scanning for someone that looked friendly. 

 

“Hey, you!” At the sound, Yuri turned his head and spotted a girl manning a fruit stall, who was waving her arms in the air. Beside her -Yuri relaxed immediately- stood Otabek, looking just as surprised as he was by her outburst. She turned towards the knight, gesturing towards Yuri. “You know him, right? I saw you guys enter the village together.”

 

“We’re Questing together,” Otabek confirmed, as Yuri walked towards to stall, trying to hide how relieved he was. The girl smiled as he approached. 

 

“Wow, that’s cool. So are you like-” 

 

Otabek opened his mouth to interrupt. He glanced at Yuri, his lack of supplies, and the bag of money in his hand and said, “Why don’t you have anything?”

 

“Well…” Yuri began awkwardly, and Otabek seemed to realize something, because he could have sworn understanding dawned in the knight’s eyes. “Sorry, but-”

 

“Ah, sorry-”

 

Their apologies came at the same time, both in a rush, and for a second they stopped and looked at each other, nonplussed. Yuri said, “I forgot to mention that I don’t know the currency here. Do you mind telling me how much each coin is worth?”

 

“No no, not at all,” Otabek said hurriedly. He looked distinctly unhappy (at least, for him). “It’s my fault, anyways, I forgot that you don’t come to human villages. That was stupid of me, I apologise.”

 

A giggle came from the side -Yuri jumped, he’d forgotten they weren’t alone. The vendor was staring at them, eyes glowing with metaphorical hearts in them. “You guys are so cute!”

 

Yuri didn’t know how to react. Judging by Otabek’s silence, he didn’t either. “Um, thanks, I guess?” 

 

“Sorry, but we need to go,” Otabek quickly excused themselves while Yuri tried to figure out what the girl meant.  _ Cute? What? _

 

He was soon distracted by Otabek, who took the pouch of money from Yuri and began to explain the currency. They spent the rest of the day shopping, and after a night of fine, untroubled sleep at a nearby inn, the two of them were ready to set off by morning. 

 

To his surprise, Yuri felt a distant pang in his heart as they left the town, him riding first, while Otabek walked in front. His time at the lively, welcoming village had been short, but memorable. Last night’s dinner had been particularly excellent, Yuri reminiscenced. The innkeeper’s children, after nudging each other for a bit, had scrounged up the courage to approach Otabek and himself to introduce themselves, and ask them what they were doing travelling here. 

 

While Yuri had frozen originally, unsure of how to handle this sudden hero worship, Otabek had, to Yuri’s surprise, proven himself to be adept with children- speaking with an ease that made Yuri jealous and smiling a warm, kind smile that made Yuri’s stomach do jumping jacks. The knight had launched into the story of their Quest (oooh, a dragon, the children gasped, wasn’t that dangerous, you must be so brave) though he thankfully omitted the part where Yuri had broken a stupidly important rule and was only here to save his soul. That would have elicited a very different reaction from the kids. 

 

“You’re good with children,” Yuri had said, when he got over his surprise. 

 

“I have a sister,” Had been Otabek’s reply. 

 

And Yuri had stopped dead, surprising himself- he’d forgotten that Otabek had a sister. A sick one, he recalled, remembering the words Otabek had told him that day- the day the knight had tried to help him as he lay screaming on the ground, moments after Yuri had insulted the knight to his face. 

 

The conversation had died after that, though Yuri didn’t know if that had been Otabek’s intention or if he’d realized what he’d said. Either way, they didn’t speak again until morning, and the subject didn’t come up again. 

 

The morning was pleasant enough, he thought. Birds were chirping in the trees, their songs providing a melody to slowly wake up to. The sky was sunny, but the cooling breeze made sure it wasn’t too hot. The path away from the village and towards the forest was lined with stones, and Serik’s hooves -which had become tolerable- were louder as a steady beat of  _ clack clack clack  _ resonated against the floor. 

 

But eventually, the paved stones gave way to messily arranged rocks, like the person placing them had given up on trying. Then they shifted to gravel -small crunched up stones that made odd shifting sounds when you stepped on them, and finally, back to a beaten dirt path. By the time this had all finished transitioning, trees were surrounding them once more, and it was back to the rhythm of the days that had passed beforehand. 

 

Green grass, blue sky, poopy birds. 

 

At Otabek’s request, they switched spots two hours later and then stopped for lunch around midday. Yuri landed and stretched, rolling his shoulders to get the tension out of his shoulder blades, while Otabek rummaged through his satchel, presumably looking for something. 

 

With his back turned, Yuri didn’t see the knight give him a fugitive glance, but he heard his words nonetheless. 

 

“Yuri,” Otabek said, “Could you go out and, uh, gather firewood?”

 

Yuri gave him a weird look. “You mean you want me to summon some?”

 

“No,” Otabek voice was oddly loud, and as if realizing this, he coughed awkwardly before continuing, “Like, gather some. In the forest.”

 

“Not that magic isn’t cool,” He added, “But… it’s nice to see some nature, you know?”

 

Yuri wanted to say he did know, actually, since he’d been staring at nature for the past few days, but decided against it. It was obvious Otabek was hiding something (honestly, that had to have been the worst excuse Yuri had ever heard, and he knew Victor, the original Terrible Liar) though he wasn’t sure what. And the knight clearly didn’t want him to know. Even if he confronted him about it, Yuri thought, Otabek would probably deny everything and come up with some excuse. So he stomped off, feeling more than a little annoyed and betrayed. These past few days, they’d been almost getting along. Sure, the first few times they’d met things had gone badly, but they’d taken down bandits together… they’d gone to the village… it had been, Yuri realized, with a sort of dawning epiphany, it had been fun! And now Otabek was lying to his face, going out of his way to hide something….

 

Yuri stopped dead in his tracks. Wait- was he actually moping about this? No no, of course not. There was no way he could be feeling bad just because Otabek and him weren’t friends, nothing of the sort. It was idiocy to think otherwise- no, it would have been idiocy to think otherwise, because obviously he had not, and the knight being weirdly bitchy now had nothing to do with him. It wasn’t his problem, it was Otabek’s, and Yuri shouldn’t care and he didn’t. Not at all. 

 

(He cared quite a lot.)

 

But on a completely unrelated note, he stayed out longer than he needed to avoid seeing Otabek, so that when he finally came back almost an hour had passed. 

 

The camp was quite like he’d left it. Serik was still tied to the tree and their things were still strewn semi-neatly over the forest floor. Otabek had his back facing him, and the knight seemed to be doing something in front of the fire. Before he could look away, Otabek glanced up and they locked eyes. “Yuri! You’re back!”

 

Great, so now he was happy to see him. 

 

As Yuri drew near, fury still pumping in his veins, something caught his attention. One, the knight was holding something in his hand, and two, there was a familiar smell in the air….

 

Yuri stopped in front of Otabek, who offered him a hand.

 

“Want one?” He was holding a pork cutlet pirozhki. 

 

An honest to goodness pork cutlet pirozhki. 

 

(What the fuck?)

 

“What the fuck?” He said aloud, gaping at the dish without any sort of elegance whatsoever. “ _ What is this _ ?”

 

Otabek lowered his hand, looking slightly affronted and (was he imagining it?) nervous. “What do you mean? Did I make it wrong?”

 

“What the fuck did you make?” Yuri demanded, even though he knew the answer very clearly. He needed to hear the words come out of Otabek’s mouth, to hear the knight admit that this was truly his intention and not some impressive coincidence. He wasn’t sure what he wanted him to say, but Otabek’s next words proved that it wasn’t. 

 

“It’s that dish you told me about, the one you said tasted really good- at least, it’s supposed to be,” Otabek said, sounding almost nervous. “Why, does it not look like it? I don’t know if this is correct, honestly, I described it to the innkeeper’s wife yesterday and we figured it might be something like this-”

 

“So you did make pork cutlet pirozhki,” Yuri breathed, who could still not process the idea even though it was right in front of him. He felt like his thoughts were running around in useless circles around him, unable to move on from this fact. He felt like the world had turned upside down. 

 

“Yes, that,” Otabek said, sounding relieved. 

 

“You  _ remembered _ that?” Yuri stared at the pirozhki in wonder. He could smell it, and boy did it smell good. Suddenly he didn’t feel like he was in the middle of a village on a Quest, but at home with Yuuri and Victor and his grandpa smiling at him. The thought made him feel oddly warm. “And you made them? Why?”

 

“Because I thought, well,” Otabek made a vague gesture towards their surroundings, “This started out pretty terribly, but the past few days have been better and I sort of wanted to… acknowledge that? Think of this meal as a peace offering.”

 

“Didn’t we agree to peace after the attack?”

 

“A better peace then.”

 

Yuri hesitated a moment, then took the offered pirozhki from Otabek’s hand before biting into it. The taste brought a smile to his face. It was  _ good _ . 

 

Then he frowned, because Otabek was staring at him with a weird expression on his face. “Is there something wrong?”

 

“No,” The knight said, immediately averting his eyes. His cheeks were slightly pink. “No, it was nothing. Forget it.”

 

There was a beat of awkward silence that was eventually broken by Otabek’s cough. “But does it… you know, taste good?”

 

“Oh yeah,” said Yuri, eager to make up for whatever fuck up he’d committed that caused the behaviour before. “The meat’s crisper, and there’s less egg than Yuuri usually adds, but it still has the same distinct flavour.”

 

“It means a lot to me,” Yuri added, but was baffled when Otabek turned away again, looking much redder. 

 

It might have just been his imagination, though, because the knight quickly turned back and changed the topic. Eager to move on, he continued to munch on the pirozhki for the rest of the meal, and he pretended not to notice Otabek’s weird reactions whenever he smiled. 

 

Slowly but surely, this was starting to feel like home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: the throwaway detail about a bird nearly pooping on Yuri's head was inspired by real events! Thankfully, I had a hat on. Hats good! Birds bad. :(
> 
> Another fun fact: I really hate this chapter (then again I hate all my chapters so is that really a surprise). Aside from the general happenings going on, I have a feeling there's still a bunch of grammar mistakes and spelling errors I didn't catch while proofreading, but I really want to get this up before I delay it any longer.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to stop apologizing for the wait times and start trying harder to churn out more content.
> 
> On another note, I know this chapter is pretty short compared to how long they've been getting, and that it's probably really rude to update after, what, six weeks with this. But fear not- this was originally the first half of chapter 6, which ended up being over ten thousand words long. I finished it yesterday but it was taking too long to edit, and I really, really didn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer, so I thought I'd split it in two. The next chapter is a loooot longer, I promise, and completely finished so I just need to edit it. It'll be up by Thursday at the latest.

The ride to the second village was much shorter, and thanks to the increasingly friendly atmosphere, it felt even more so. Conversation flowed easily. Gone were any sort of pauses or reservations- Yuri and Otabek chatted away like they’d been friends forever. After only four days since leaving the village, Otabek had predicted they’d be there before dinnertime, which was a pleasant thought. They’d planned to stay there longer than they had before, which was even better. Yuri looked forward to being able to see a sweets shop again, and maybe even buy some candy this time. 

 

“What are you thinking about?” asked Otabek. He was holding Serik’s reins as Yuri rode and had turned backwards to talk to him. As a result, the horse was slowly inching to the left without his notice. Yuri hid a smirk and resolved not to tell him. 

 

“Food,” he said, which was true. The knight looked exasperated. 

 

“But you just ate lunch a few hours ago!”

 

“I’m a growing boy,” he said, using the excuse he always did whenever he stole Victor and Yuuri’s snacks. Otabek rolled his eyes. 

 

“So am I,” Otabek pointed out. Yuri did a very good job of pretending he didn’t hear, and stifled a smile when the knight grunted in irritation. 

 

A few seconds later, he got his revenge. 

 

“You know, I’ve always wondered,” Otabek began, his voice deceptively curious. “How are fae born? I’m sure you know this by now, since you’re a  _ growing boy _ and all.” 

 

He smirked when Yuri nearly jumped off Serik’s saddle. 

 

“Did you just ask me to give you the talk about the birds and the bees?” Yuri retorted, gathering himself, and he was pleased to see the knight’s cheeks flush pink. Before the knight could reply, however, they turned a corner and the village came into sight. Yuri gaped.

 

It was similar to the first one they’d arrived at, in fact, it was almost identical -thatched roofs, smooth cobblestones, and already he could hear the distant sounds of merchants shouting their wares. The only notable difference was that in front of the village, acting as an entranceway was a stone arch. While it was by no means fancy, it was well-crafted and well-built, towering over the other buildings. It cast a shadow in front of it, a shadow that Yuri and Otabek had to pass under in order to enter. Tilting his head upwards, Yuri observed the words written on the very top.  _ Zhiyou lepur keyi entrer.  _ Yuri didn’t know what that meant. From the confused look on Otabek’s face, he didn’t either. 

 

Yuri nudged him with his foot. “What language is that?”

 

“I’m actually not quite sure,” Otabek said, sounding pensive. His face was scrunched so that his eyebrows touched in the middle of his forehead. Yuri was struck with a sudden urge to reach over and smooth it out -silly, of course, because it would never work- but snapped out of it when Otabek continued. “I’d say it’s some dialect of Agapian, because a few prefixes and suffixes look familiar, but I don’t know what the words mean exactly.”

 

“But what do you think it says?” 

 

“Some sort of welcoming message, probably,” he replied, shrugging, “Or else the village’s motto or whatever.”

 

“Hmm,” shrugged Yuri, as they passed under the arch’s shadow. Beyond them the village loomed, the marketplace still crowded despite the fact it was nearly dinnertime. Colourful skirts swished and wind chimes tinkled in the air as they were blown by the soft summer breeze. Nearby, a group of children were laughing as they each took turns playing catch. Suddenly, one girl threw the ball too far and it rolled, making its way down the path towards them. A boy broke from the group to pick it up, tripping over his feet in his attempt to catch it. He sat up, laughing in the way children do when they’re too high on adrenaline to be hurt, and saw them. 

 

In the split second he did-

 

(Horror. Disgust. Fear.)

 

Yuri froze. 

 

Then the boy’s gaze dropped, the child glancing at the ball he’d clutched in his hands-

 

(His knuckles were white as he clenched it in his hands.)

 

And when he looked back up the expression was gone, dulled into something like blankless. He scrambled up and ran off to join his friends, who had noticed them now, too. They were staring at them with wide eyes. 

 

Otabek stepped forwards. He’d let go of the reins, attention momentarily straying away from Yuri and Serik. He approached the kids slowly, kneeling a few feet in front of them despite it dirtying his clothes. His every movement was careful, every action calculated to prove he wasn’t a threat to them. 

 

“Hello,” he said, extending a hand. “I’m Otabek, a knight, and this is my friend, Yuri. We’re here to visit for a while. Where are your village elders?”

 

The kids said nothing, staring at him without reply. Yuri frowned and nearly flew off the horse to join him, maybe convince Otabek that they weren’t worth his time. The two of them could ask an adult instead, though something about both ideas rubbed him the wrong way. 

 

Then he spotted Otabek’s other hand, hidden from the children’s point of view behind his back. It was making a familiar gesture, one that made Yuri narrow his eyes.  _ Stay back?  _

 

The thought wasn’t a pleasant one. Still, Otabek had been good with the innkeeper’s kids, so maybe he knew something about children that Yuri didn’t. He stayed on the horse, hyper aware of the fact that Otabek wasn’t steadying him any longer. If Serik startled, he was absolutely fucked.

 

When it became clear that the children weren’t going to reply, Otabek retracted his outstretched hand and clasped it together with his other one. Twisting his fingers together, he made a dog-shaped creature with his fingers and smiled at the kids. “Woof!” 

 

They looked surprised, and one girl’s lips twitched upwards. He did it again, and someone giggled. Otabek made his voice ridiculously high pitched and cheerful. “Hello, young children. I am… Erzhan, honourable pet of sir Otabek the knight. My master and I were wondering if you could call your elders here to meet us?”

 

“No need,” someone said. Yuri blinked, startled -a mistake, since he yanked on the reins and caused Serik to shuffle nervously. Yelping, he did the only thing he could think to do- practically leap off the horse and soar through the air. 

 

It took a few seconds for him to realize everyone was staring at him. Including the stranger. 

 

The man was middle-aged, with a weird mustache on his face and a balding head with a few tufts of dark brown hair. He looked like Victor’s fear of what he’d become as he grew older, but still warm and grandfatherly, as if he sprouted proverbs at the drop of a hat and played hide and go seek with the younglings like it was nothing. Yuri disliked him immediately. 

 

“Off you go,” the man continued, and obediently, the children ran off, practically tripping over their feet to get away. Yuri narrowed his eyes. Why all the rush?

 

“Nice to meet you,” Otabek said, extending his hand for a handshake. Yuri crossed his arms, still hovering in the air. “I’m Otabek Altin, Knight of the Kingdom of Agape.”

 

“Likewise,” said the man. “My name is Trevozhnost’, and I am the leader of this village. It truly is an honour to meet you.” 

 

Irritatingly enough, he talked in a way that was no different from anyone else. Yuri had expected a voice like oil- smooth and slippery, oozing pleasantries that were a fake. A sycophant. But Trev-whatever sounded genuine, and his smile was warm. 

 

He was still smiling when he asked Otabek to “Call it down, please?”

 

It took a while for Yuri to realize that he meant him. 

 

“Excuse me?” Yuri exclaimed, crossing his arms tighter around his chest. “I’m a person. Uh, a faerie.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“I’m a  _ he, _not an _ it_. Not that that guy could order me around anyways.” 

____

 

____

Otabek looked a little exasperated as being referred to as  _ that guy,  _ but Yuri focused more on the indistinguishable look that passed over Trevozhnost’s face. “Of course. Apologies. That was a slip of the tongue, there.”

____

 

____

Yuri glared. Trevozhnost’ met his eyes and smiled once more. “I hope you don’t mind.”

____

 

____

Yuri did, actually, even with that fake as hell apology, but Otabek looked mollified and he didn’t want to cause trouble with this important looking person so quickly after they’d arrived. So he bit his tongue as both he and Otabek were shown into the village. 

____

 

____

As they walked, Yuri took care to observe the people around them to see if they were just as weird as their leader. But to his… displeasure? Confusion? He didn’t know how he felt. Surprise? The villagers seemed just as normal as the ones in the first town. They milled around minding their own business, and although one or two stopped to greet Trevozhnost’, that was all the interaction they initiated. 

____

 

____

“Alright,” said Otabek, interrupting his train of thought. “Same jobs as last time?”

____

 

____

Yuri blinked. “Uh, what were they again?”

____

 

____

“You bought food and I bought supplies.” 

____

 

____

“Right, okay.”

____

 

____

Yuri set off in a random direction, wandering around the town aimlessly. He figured he had some time before the sun set, and that perhaps he could see if this town, like the previous one, had a sweets shop he could stop by at. His mouth watered at the memory of towering cakes and sugar glazed treats -yes, stopping by the sweets shop sounded like a  _ great  _ idea.

____

 

____

But after a while, he became strangely aware of an uncomfortable feeling between his shoulder blades. Not caused by his wings this time, but from unease. Yuri felt like he had a target sign pinned to his back, and that behind him, people were gearing up to throw darts. 

____

 

____

He glanced back. A few villagers milled around, but no one seemed to be looking at him. Odd. 

____

 

____

It was his imagination, he told himself. He’d had similar worries the trip before about villagers not accepting him and nothing had happened. There was no reason -no reason at all- why this time wouldn’t be the same. 

____

 

____

Except a doubt kept digging at him like a surprisingly persistent neck pain. No matter how he tried to make it go away, it stayed and bugged him to no end. 

____

 

____

Later that day, he and Otabek met up at the inn the knight had found with their supplies. Yuri contemplated asking Otabek about what had happened, but when he saw him cheerfully chatting away with a serving girl at the inn decided against it immediately. He didn’t want another repeat of the last time he’d tried to approach Otabek when he was with a girl. He still remembered the interaction, the light in the girl’s eyes when she called them cute. He wondered what it meant. 

____

 

____

Still, an unpleasant feeling stirred up in him as he continued to watch Otabek talk with her, like he’d eaten something bad. Yuri tried to brush it off. There was nothing to worry about, he told himself. He’d tell him about his suspicions later. It could wait until evening. 

____

 

____

But that evening they ate at the inn, which became jam packed with people and even a band of singers, hollering some human song that Yuri didn’t know. It was impossible to speak and be heard, and impossible to shout without having everyone overhear, even before Otabek was roped into doing some ridiculous dance in the middle of the bar’s floor. Yuri stabbed his meal with more force than necessary and decided it could wait until nighttime. They’d be alone in their rooms then, and surely everyone else would too. 

____

 

____

But then some farmers, all a little older than Otabek, invited the knight to go play some game of horseshoe tossing with them outside. The knight agreed readily, telling Yuri he was going to be gone for a while (This game’s my favourite, he said), and not to wait up for him. Irritated, Yuri planned to do just that, stomping back to his room to sulk. He’d stay up. He’d stay awake. And when Otabek came back, he’d tell him every stupid thing about this godforsaken town and they’d change their plans. Maybe they could investigate and see if there was really something wrong with this place, and just exactly what it was. 

____

 

____

Closing the door behind him, Yuri stalked over to the bed and plopped down. He fiddled with the edge of the blanket for about ten seconds before he got tired of it. Bored, Yuri walked around the room, trying to find something to entertain himself with. He could still hear the band playing downstairs, and the wailing noises the leader singer was making.  _ Humans, _ thought Yuri. They had such weird forms of entertainment. Gazing about the room, he tried to find something -anything- even remotely entertaining, but the place was frustratingly sparse. Other than a dusty mirror and one table, there was nothing interesting. Giving up, he returned to the bed, glaring at the ceiling with venom. There was a cobweb in one corner, and Yuri focused his gaze on that, wondering if he could tear it down if he glared at it hard enough. 

____

 

____

And time passed… and passed… and passed….

____

 

____

His eyelids grew heavy. Yuri started yawning. He blinked his eyes to try and keep himself awake, and it worked until it didn’t, until against his will, he drifted off into unconsciousness….

____

 

____

(He woke up to screams.)

____

 

____

Yuri practically jumped out of bed at the sound, knuckles tight over the edge of his blankets. His pulse was racing, like there was a tiny war drum in his chest being hit over and over. For a second, he couldn’t remember where he was or how he’d gotten there, but then he inhaled the scent of the dusty, bare room, and remembered. This was the inn. He was on a bed, which meant he had fallen asleep. And-

____

 

____

He heard rather than saw Otabek’s shaking form, the creak of the bed giving the knight’s anxiety away when the dim lighting did not.

____

 

____

His immediate thought was that they were being attacked and that there was something bad about this town after all, but when he finally rubbed his eyes enough so that he could see, there was only Otabek and him in this room, as always. And the knight was still sleeping. 

____

 

____

(Nightmare.)

____

 

____

Yuri tossed his blankets aside and moved to shake his fellow Quester. The second his hand touched Otabek’s back, the knight went stiff and jolted awake, eyes wide with panic and breathing heavily. 

____

 

____

“Whoa, whoa, it’s okay, calm down-” Yuri was pretty sure that if there was an award for being the worst at calming someone it would go to him, but he couldn’t think of anything else to say. He kept grabbing at Otabek’s hands, just in case the knight panicked and tried to punch him in the face or something. 

____

 

____

“Help her- make her wake up-” Otabek was blinking rapidly, glancing around the room as if he expected to be somewhere else. “Is she-”

____

 

____

His eyes finally focused on Yuri. “Oh. It’s you.”

____

 

____

Any other time Yuri would have yelled at him for being rude, except Otabek’s tone didn’t sound like he was trying to disrespect Yuri (In fact, it was almost relieved, and wasn’t that a weird thought?). Plus, he was as pale as a sheet, and still shivering slightly despite the fact that there was no noticeable chill in the air. 

____

 

____

“It’s me,” Yuri agreed. 

____

 

____

Otabek stared at him a while longer as if to ascertain this was true. He didn’t blame him, it was still dark outside, and the knight’s senses were probably skewed from his terror moments before. Then, in one fluid motion, the knight slumped back into bed and ran a hand through his hair, groaning. “What time is it?”

____

 

____

“I don’t know, early morning?” Yuri said, squinting at the inn’s window. “Midnight? Sometime in the night, anyways.”

____

 

____

“Thanks for pointing out the obvious,” Otabek sounded almost sulky. He yawned, blinking sleepily. “Mmmh, we should go back to sleep.”

____

 

____

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Yuri said, remembering what he’d planned to ask last night, before he’d presumably fallen asleep. He didn’t know when the knight had gotten back, but he figured this was as good of a time as any to put his suspicions forward. If he waited until morning, creepy grandfather guy might find them again. “Haven’t you noticed that this village is sort of… odd? I’ve suspected it from the beginning, but-”

____

 

____

Otabek blinked again, looking confused. “The beginning? What?”

____

 

____

Yuri explained everything he’d observed since arriving at this village- his dislike of Trevozhnost’, the children, and the weird feeling he’d gotten while shopping. As he talked, however, Yuri couldn’t help but notice that Otabek didn’t look too interested. The knight kept running his hand through his hair and looking out the window, as if his mind was somewhere else. 

____

 

____

His suspicions were confirmed when Otabek looked hesitant after he was done. “Look… you met the guy for two minutes, and already decided you hated him? That seems a bit weird to me.”

____

 

____

“The children  _ ran _ off after he told them to!”

____

 

____

“Well, yeah, but they’re kids. I mean-” Otabek laughed a little, “I feel like that was just competitiveness, you know? Be the fastest to get back home.”

____

 

____

“And they were so weird! It took them so long to talk to us, and one kid looked scared.”

____

 

____

“I think that was just shyness.” 

____

 

____

Yuri slammed his hand on the bed in frustration. Considering all he hit were blankets the action was significantly less dramatic than he expected, but he did his best to pretend it didn’t happen. “Do you have an answer for  _ everything _ ?”

____

 

____

“I have an answer to reasonable things with reasonable explanations,” For the first time in this conversation Otabek sounded frustrated, and Yuri flinched away, feeling oddly defensive. “Why are  _ you _ so determined to see things that aren’t there? Things are weird in new towns. It’s a cultural thing. You’re freaking yourself out.”

____

 

____

“ _ But the first village wasn’t like this _ !”

____

 

____

“But different places are _ different _ !” 

____

 

____

Yuri threw his hands up in frustration. “Why are you so adamant about denying everything? What’s the harm in investigating this creepy town?”

____

 

____

“It’ll take up too much time!” Otabek slammed his hand down like Yuri had just a few moments earlier, except his fist hit the bedside table, which was made of wood and not cotton. As a result, a resounding  _ thud  _ echoed around the room, and coupled with his words, created a much more devastating effect. “And time’s running out! We can’t afford any setbacks like staying longer to find something that doesn’t exist. We can’t waste any more of the time my sister has. We’ll rest one more day but tomorrow we’re _ leaving _ .”

____

 

____

And with that, he threw his covers off and stomped towards the door.

____

 

____

“Hey- come back-!” But his words fell on deaf ears, and the sound of the door slamming proved that his efforts were worthless. Yuri slumped back and sighed, blowing a stray hair out of his face exasperatedly. He heard footsteps descending down the stairs, and then silence. Well, that could have gone better. He debated going after Otabek, but the knight didn’t seem like he was in a listening mood. Otabek had been so upset. A rare sliver of guilt sliced through him. Had he been imagining the things in this town?

____

 

____

Yuri rolled onto his side, tucking his arm under the pillow and his head into his arms. As time passed, he became aware of the silence hanging about in the room, heavy and judgemental, like even the air was scolding him. There was no clock in this room, he noted, and no sounds of water rushing like in the river. The river. His river smelled like damp grass and mud, of animals like birds and frogs and dragonflies. Of  _ life _ . The only living thing in this room was him, and the only scent one of musty blankets and dust. Yuri turned to gaze at the ceiling with blank eyes, suddenly feeling a hollow ache in his stomach. He wanted to go back  _ home _ . 

____

 

____

But he couldn’t. He couldn’t even have the next closest thing, because Otabek was still gone and stayed gone as the time ticked by. Yuri hadn’t realized how much he’d grown used to the sound of Otabek’s breathing at night until it was gone, and his own breath sounded oddly hollow every time he exhaled. 

____

 

____

Yuri’s eyelashes fluttered against his skin as he closed his eyes, limbs feeling heavy. How long had it been, now? Ten minutes, twenty? More, probably. Half an hour. Half an hour and Otabek still hadn’t come back? Where could he have gone?

____

 

____

He shifted again, once more leaning towards his side. 

____

 

____

His eyes opened. There was a man in front of him- a man with spiky hair and plain, brown clothes. Yuri recognized him as one of the farmers who’d invited Otabek to play with them earlier. For a second they just gazed at each other, surprised- then his eyes shifted to something behind Yuri and the fae realized what was going on. 

____

 

____

_ Oh shit, _ he thought. His last thought before passing out was that, who knew, he’d been right after all.

____

 

____

(Lucky him.)

____

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thanks for putting up with me. I'll have the next chapter out tomorrow or Thursday if I have to pull all-nighters to do it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When he awoke, it was to muffled talking and the scent of smoke. 
> 
> Yuri’s head lolled uncontrollably, a constant drumming of pain in his head. Tiredness clung to him, acting like a fog and blocking out his grasp on reality. He couldn’t open his eyes, and his mouth felt dry and gritty, almost as if it was stuffed full of sand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the chapter, just like I promised!

When he awoke, it was to muffled talking and the scent of smoke. 

 

Yuri’s head lolled uncontrollably, a constant drumming of pain in his head. Tiredness clung to him, acting like a fog and blocking out his grasp on reality. He couldn’t open his eyes, and his mouth felt dry and gritty, almost as if it was stuffed full of sand. 

 

From nearby, the talking grew louder.

 

As the seconds passed and the pain welled down, Yuri became lucid enough to register a few more things. There was a cold surface pressed against his back (a wall, Yuri thought), and more coldness around his ankles and wrists and upper shoulders. They were heavy, almost like ice was bearing down on him, except ice did not make him feel so tired…

 

Iron, Yuri realized, and his eyes flew open. What he saw made them widen even further. 

 

Tied in front of him was a horse, well-groomed in stature and familiar in sight. Yuri, who had always associated Serik with obedience and good training (if not a little mischievous at times) had to do a double take at the angry, seemingly wild creature that was doing everything he could to keep the men around him from taking control. 

 

“Someone get that thing to calm down,” One of them said, while the rest grumbled under their breaths and did their best to comply. It wasn’t easy, however, as Serik let out a whinny at the way they were treating him. 

 

“And shut it up while you’re at it!”

 

“We’re  _ trying _ !”

 

_ I knew there was a reason I liked that horse _ , Yuri thought, pride welling up inside of him. “Go Serik!” 

 

Everyone spun around at once. Serik tried to make a break for it, causing most of them to turn right back around. However, one villager abandoned his horse taming efforts to grab a rake and level it his way. Before Yuri could regret his burst of impulsiveness and the fact that he’d just lost the element of surprise, someone he hadn’t noticed before stepped forwards, wearing a warm, kind smile that made Yuri want to vomit. 

 

Trevozhnost’ chuckled at his expression. 

 

“I knew there was something about you,” said Yuri. As right as he was, it didn’t make him feel any better. 

“Did you?” An amused smile curved the other man’s lips, like he knew exactly what Yuri was thinking and  _ loved  _ it. His eyes sparkled with sadistic glee. “How satisfying it must be to be proven right.”

 

Yuri didn’t dignify that with a reply. He didn’t think he could have even if he wanted to. He was too furious. The old man chuckled again. 

 

“You know, I thought you’d be a little more talkative. Aren’t you curious about what you’re doing here?”

 

As a matter of fact, he was, but he didn’t want him to know that. Then again, if he could get him talking, it might give Yuri some time to formulate an escape plan, or for Otabek to find him. Yuri grudgingly put on his best curious captive face. 

 

“If I ask, will you answer?”

 

“Maybe, maybe not. Depends on how nicely you ask.”

 

Yuri grit his teeth. He was so,  _ so _ tempted to stay silent just to spite the man. Instead, he shook his shoulders in a sad effort to gesture to his chains. He wondered if Trevozhnost’ planned that when he had him bound. “What’s this for?” 

 

And then, as an afterthought, he jutted his chin forwards in Serik’s direction. His heart fell when he saw that the men had gotten the upper hand and that the horse had been tied to a post. “And that, for the matter?”

 

“Do you really not know?” Trevozhnost’ said, waving a disappointed finger in front of Yuri’s face. “Silly boy. The village children are more clever than you.”

 

Yuri’s eyes widened, then narrowed to slits. “ _ You _ -”

 

“But nonetheless, I’ll comply,” said the man, spreading his arms to gesture around them. “All of this was done for one _ simple _ reason, a thing so basic and universal that it should be reinforced everywhere, yet is not.”

 

He pursed his lips in consideration. “Didn’t you pass the arch coming in?”

 

“...Yes.”

 

“How stupid of you, then, to not notice the inscription,” He sniffed. “It is written in an ancient dialect of Agapian, one that has not been tainted and polluted with the new words they invent nowadays. Fitting, that the purest of languages is the one that delivers the message that only the pure can enter this town. And the purest species of all is naturally humanity.”

 

Trevozhnost’ looked at Yuri, and there was a jagged smile on his face, almost like someone had taken a knife and drawn a line connecting both sides of his jaw. His lips were stretched so his smile no longer resembled anything kind, and his eyes promised blood. 

 

“And here, we do not allow _ fae _ ,” The word was spat like the darkest of curses, “To taint the world with their foul existence!”  

 

“Um, that’s great and everything,” Yuri said after a pause. His body felt frozen, stiff with encroaching terror, yet his mind could only focus on one detail. “But, uh, isn’t the horse…  well, I mean, it’s not human, but… does this mean you kill all animals, too?”

 

“The horse belongs to the knight,” Trevozhnost’ said it like the words made sense, as if that was reason enough for Serik to be here alongside Yuri. “And while I can usually tolerate knights, this one associated himself with you, and refused to insult you last night during horseshoes. And so…”

 

He spread his arms in an  _ oh well _ gesture. “Unfortunate, but we’ll do what needs to be done. Might as well see this thing to the end, no?”

 

Before Yuri could fully comprehend the meaning of those words, another person burst through a door he hadn’t noticed before, panting with exhaustion. Yuri’s eyes narrowed in on it - an exit. 

 

“The scene is all clear,” the villager announced, “Brian is distracting the knight. He didn’t notice anything.”

 

The door slammed open again.

 

“Oh fuck,” said the same villager. “I was wrong, wasn’t I.”

 

“ _ You _ !” Otabek snarled. 

 

For the first time ever, Yuri could see why Otabek was a knight. Usually so stoic, there was a sort of cold fury on his face, and he could see the knight’s hand reach for his sword. 

 

As angry as he was, he was too late. Before he could reach the handle of his weapon, several men who were supposed to be guarding Yuri yelled and charged, breaking formation for the stronger threat. Trevozhnost’ turned sharply, yelling at them to stop and go back, but they didn’t. 

 

The first villager to reach Otabek fell to the floor, rake spinning out of his hands and flying across the room. The look on their face was terrified, and for a second, Yuri’s perspective of the person shifted -unscarred skin, wide eyes- he looked so young, he was just a boy, really. Otabek must have seen it too, because his sword slowed for just a second as he hesitated. 

 

That second was all it took. Another man -an older one, this time- gave an angry yell and charged Otabek with a pitchfork. 

 

Then everyone attacked at once. It was messy. Yuri saw at least ten people attempt to charge Otabek in unison, some backing up at the last minute out of fear of crashing into each other. But the others managed to land hits, and while sloppily done and obviously poorly trained, these instances were still too organized to be a product of mere coincidence. 

 

This wasn’t the first time this happened, Yuri realized, feeling about ten times colder. 

 

He tried to calm his breathing. Distantly he understood that he needed to calm the fuck down so he could stop himself from getting killed, but it was hard to concentrate on that when every flash and glint of a blade seemed to signal impending doom. 

 

Droplets of blood splattered onto his face, and he flinched. 

 

_ Adrenaline distracts and tires you,  _ he remembered. Yuri grit his teeth. He needed to act before he became too scared to be useful. He needed to help Otabek -he needed to get out of these chains.  _ Think, Yuri, think.  _ He couldn’t use magic, the iron was rendering that useless, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t find his way out of this. After all, Otabek didn’t have magic and he was holding his ground right now.

 

Thinking about Otabek just made it harder to not look at him and the chaos occurring in the room. So Yuri closed his eyes. 

 

Without the sights of the battle, he felt that every sound (the clashing of swords, the yelling) and smell (the bitter tang of blood, the sweat of unwashed humans) became clearer and sharper. He shook his head and tried to focus. 

 

_ Concentrate on your breath _ , said a voice that sounded suspiciously like the pig’s.  _ Concentrate on every action and movement of your body that means that you’re alive. That helps me when I get anxious.  _

 

Yuri inhaled in and exhaled out. Then he did it again. Slowly, everything around him seemed to dim, like he was on his very own island watching this all occur at sea. He was aware of the rise and fall of his chest, the cold wall against his back, and most of all, the iron chains digging into his skin and sapping the strength out of him.

 

( _ Think.) _

 

He needed to help Otabek. To do best do that, he needed magic, and so he had to get out of these chains. 

 

But just as the answer came to him, as easy as breathing, Yuri knew it was impossible. The obvious solution had been predicted by the villagers. There was next to no chance of finding a way out of the iron, and even if there was it would take so much time Yuri might as well do nothing. He’d hit a dead end. 

 

For the second time that day, something Yuuri said came to mind. When you reached a dead end, you had two choices- either attempt to continue and inevitably fail, or create a new road. If there was no way out of his chains,  _ fine _ . He didn’t need to take them off. 

 

Yuri focused his attention on the restraints again, except this time, he wasn’t thinking about how to make the unbreakable chains give but how much he could move in them. His hands were bound tightly to his back. There were chains around his knees and ankles, and even a heavy weight tied to his feet. 

 

Though they’d obviously known enough to bind him in iron, there was no myth out there to tell you how to properly bind wings. Perhaps they’d thought that a heavy metal would tear them apart, because his wings were tied back with rope instead. Not out of kindness, Yuri was sure. He’d be very surprised if none of the villagers had thought about cutting them off and selling them after he was dead. Still, he supposed that the villager’s greed/ignorance had a good side to it -whether they’d been inexperienced or unwillingly to damage his wings, they’d done a pretty mediocre job of it. They’d probably improvised, done their best and when that had turned out to be a bust, decided that the iron and weight would be enough to keep him down anyways, so it didn’t matter. 

 

Well, Yuri thought grimly, he would not let that be the case. 

 

He slammed his back against the wall, trying to shift his wings as he did so. He did it again, and again, and again. 

 

Around him, shouts and cries echoed from every edge of the place. Serik was bucking widely in his restraints. Someone -Yuri couldn’t see who- fired an arrow aimed for Serik’s back. His head snapped up, eyes widening. But to his relief, the arrow practically bounced off the horse. Yuri let out a sigh.

 

Then Serik was shot through the heart. 

 

Before Yuri could process what was happening, the horse seemed to gain a newfound source of strength and ripped itself from its rope restraints, joining the fight with more fervor than Yuri thought a horse could have. But the arrowhead still protruded from its chest, filling Yuri with a sense of dread. 

 

Anger coursed through him again, and he flexed his wings tighter, straining the rope until finally - _ finally _ \- it snapped. Yuri shot into the air, swinging his legs angrily as he went. The weight tied to them swung dangerously, hitting several unsuspecting villagers in the head and making them topple like fallen trees. To his frustration, however, it was harder than he expected to control the weight. After slamming into Yuri’s targets the block of metal continued to move, rotating around in pointless circles. Not to mention that it was heavy. 

 

He drew back, more careful this time, but was then distracted from finding Otabek by a volley of arrows. Yuri glanced back and spotted another band of villagers, holding bows and doing their best to retaliate his previous attack. 

 

Cursing internally, he ducked and dove between the arrows, wishing he could pull up shields instead of engaging in physical activity. 

 

The bitter smell of blood wafted up from below. Now that he was higher the wind blew around him more forcefully, sending strands of hair into his face. Cursing again, he wished he could cast a spell to hold it back. Yuri felt a tearing pain in his arm. He looked down. An arrow had grazed his elbow. 

 

A strangled whinny distracted him. 

 

Below him, Serik staggered as a villager drove a spear into his side. The horse, still with the arrow, was bleeding from his chest wound but fighting nonetheless. He took another sword cut to his knee. The horse bucked and the man went down, but his wounds were still bleeding. They continued to bleed as Serik ran across the ground, knocking down villagers in his path, the crimson red dripping down his legs and splattering on the ground. 

 

For a second, he paused. His head tilted up to meet Yuri’s. He wasn’t swaying -not yet, at least- but he looked surprisingly _ tired _ , or as tired as a horse could be. 

 

In that second, it happened. Yuri didn’t see the blow, but he saw what happened afterwards. Serik whinnied, bucking again, except this time it was much lower than it used to be. He tipped sideways, and Yuri, powerless to stop the fall, could only watch as Serik’s legs crumpled like wet leaves and the horse’s body hit the ground. 

 

Yuri heard a scream. He realized it was his. 

 

Drawn by the sound, more villagers around the area snapped up their heads to look at him. Yuri didn’t care -the only thing his mind could focus on right now was repeating the sight of Serik toppling over and over. He only noticed the lack of attacks against him despite his distraction until later, when at last he saw Otabek. 

 

The knight looked tired. There was blood splattered over his armour and a slight sluggishness to his attacks, but he managed to knock down the people in his path, as well as send the rest scurrying off. The relief Yuri would have felt at this was dampened by his horror at what he’d just seen. He watched the knight sprint over, looking distraught. Otabek ignored Yuri, running under him and making his way over to his fallen horse. Yuri moved to land, only realizing what the knight was going to do a split second before it happened. 

 

“Wait!”

 

It was too late. Otabek drew his sword, and in one clean motion, struck a blow that ensured Serik’s death, if he wasn’t dead already. Yuri’s mouth dropped open in horror. 

 

“What on earth-?”

 

“I’m sorry,” said Otabek. It took a while for Yuri to realize that the knight, head bowed, was talking to the horse and not him. “I tried to make it painless.”

 

There were no words to describe how he felt right now. Yuri could only watch as Otabek gazed at his sword, stained crimson, and turned back to him in stunned silence. 

 

“Let’s go,” Otabek said. “They’re probably calling for reinforcements right now. We could barely hold them off as it is.”

 

Yuri gaped at him. “But our stuff-”

 

The supplies they’d bought last night were in the inn room, which Yuri knew was probably a place they couldn’t go back to, but Serik had had their most valuable all their things in the satchel. Said object had gone missing sometime between last night and now. The villagers had probably taken it, but Yuri had no idea where it could be. Still, if they searched-

 

“We don’t have time,” Otabek snapped. He looked angry and frustrated and twice as terrible as Yuri felt. “We don’t know where they’re keeping our supplies, and we don’t have the resources to stage a break in. If we leave now we can still outrun them and dissuade them from following. Come on!”

 

He raised his sword. Yuri flinched. Otabek’s blade struck the chains entwined around his feet, which dropped to the floor and pooled on the ground. The sudden loss of weight was astonishing. Yuri felt ten times lighter, but surprisingly (worryingly) he still felt exhausted, as if ten million years had passed since he had Otabek had arrived at this fucking town. 

 

Otabek sheathed his sword in one smooth movement, gaze focused somewhere in the distance. He hadn’t seemed to notice Yuri’s momentary fear, but Yuri had a feeling he wouldn’t notice if Yuri banged pots and pans together right now. His mind seemed to be trapped in the place where Yuri’s had been -the endless loop of regret over something you couldn’t prevent. 

 

Steeling himself, Yuri watched as Otabek exhaled a held breath and turned. He still looked exhausted, but determined. “Can you heal me? I’m not badly injured, so I understand if you want to save your energy for flying.”

 

“I’ll walk,” said Yuri, lifting his hand and casting a dim glow onto Otabek’s body. “My wings are tired.”

 

It was remarkable how much easier it was to say that now, when it had been so hard before. Yuri would have marveled at it if the situation wasn’t so dire. 

 

“No, you should fly!” Of course, n _ ow _ was when the knight decided to disagree. “You should keep a look out for the villagers, in case any of them come back-”

 

“Otabek,” said Yuri. Surprisingly, the knight stopped talking. “You’re rambling.”

 

His shoulders stiffened, scrunching up at his neck like a dog with its hackles raised. Then, suddenly, all the fight seemed to drain out of him, and tiredness replaced anger on Otabek’s face. He sighed. “Yes, I suppose I am, aren’t I?”

 

He said it like a fact. Yuri didn’t know how to reply, and broke the silence by taking off into a run instead. 

 

They sprinted for a while, both of them panting on the way. They were already tired from fighting against half the town and this escape wasn’t helping matters. But the pressing urgency of needing to get away kept them running, though Yuri seriously considered just getting killed via iron more than a few times. 

 

More than anything, however, it was the look on Otabek’s face that really made him keep going. The knight looked like a dying man- not literally, since Yuri had healed him- but… mentally. It was obvious that Otabek, who was covered head to toe in metal, had worn himself out not only physically, but also emotionally quite a while back and was probably only holding on through sheer tenacity at this point. 

 

So Yuri let him run for as long as he could tolerate, then signaled that he needed a break. 

 

He figured he’d made the right call when Otabek agreed without hesitation, and averted his eyes when the knight all but collapsed beside a tree. 

 

“Do we have water?” Otabek asked. 

 

Yuri opened his mouth to reply, then faltered. At the base of the tree, Otabek stilled. “Oh… right. We left that behind. Sorry.”

 

“No, it’s fine,” Yuri said, but the knight kept talking, almost listlessly, like the run (much, much more than the run) was getting to him. 

 

“I’d forgotten, because we used to have it, you know. Used to. Before Serik was…” Otabek faltered, a look of helpless confusion on his face. Yuri could sympathise. He didn’t want to say it, because saying it would make it real. 

 

But Otabek was a knight, and nothing if not strong. He squared his shoulders and said, “-killed.”

 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help him,” Yuri said awkwardly. He didn’t know how to comfort the knight. 

 

“No, you tried to help long before that. You saw what was going on, you _ knew _ ,” He murmured. “And you tried to warn me, too. I was the one who didn’t listen.”

 

The knight looked utterly despondent. Yuri wanted to help, but it was hard when all he could think of was,  _ yeah, you really didn’t _ . Instead, he said, “I didn’t protest as much as I could have, either. I could have followed you out. I could have cursed you to make you listen.”

 

Otabek’s head snapped up. Obviously this was not what he’d expected Yuri to say. His mouth twisted into a frown, “You don’t mean that.”

 

“Of course I do, it’s a fact.”

 

“No, I meant-” Otabek seemed to struggle a bit before continuing. “Admit it, you think it’s my fault. I was stupid and impatient and it cost us so much.”

 

“Oh, I definitely think it’s your fault,” Yuri told him, but before the knight could snap again he added, “And I also think it’s my fault for not pushing the issue. I mean, have you met me? That was totally out of character. And I also, you know, think it’s the villagers’ fault because they were the ones actively trying to kill him. Or did you not consider that?”

 

“ _ That’s not what I meant! _ ” Otabek burst out. “If I hadn’t-”

 

“Did you even listen to what I said?” Yuri interrupted, turning and placing an arm on each of Otabek’s shoulders. He doubted he could physically shake some sense into him, but he could try with what he had. “Look, technically you could blame any random person from this country and beyond and say they’re to fault because they weren’t on this Quest, where they could have possibly have prevented Serik’s death. But as you are not stupid -or at least, I hope you are significantly less stupid than you are acting right now- you can tell how ridiculous that would be. Just like how ridiculous it would be to blame yourself for not getting there in time. I mean, you’re welcome to do so, but if you do, I’ll light your hair on fire.”

 

Otabek stared at him, breathing heavily. For a moment they were both silent, the atmosphere so tense it was palpable. Then the knight wretched himself out of Yuri’s hold (He tried not to resent it, it wasn’t like he’d expected anything different) and stared into the distance, eyes dark like storm clouds. 

 

They experienced a few more beats of silence like this, until Yuri decided that by the look of Otabek’s face it was time to intervene. He looked like he was going to twist himself into knots with all the thoughts running through his head. 

 

“Anyways, new subject,” said Yuri, “This atmosphere is getting to me. You wanted to know how fae were born, right?”

 

If the knight had been walking, he would have tripped over his feet. “What?”

 

Yuri repeated himself, eyes glittering with amusement. Otabek’s face said he did not find this as funny as he did. In fact, Yuri thought that the knight might be tempted to start swinging his sword again, and was musing the odds of him doing so as until Otabek interrupted his thoughts. 

 

“This-” The knight barked out a bitter laugh. “Yuri, this is literally the worst time for idle conversation.”

 

“On the contrary, I think this is one of the best times for idle conversation,” Yuri replied. “Your head might combust if you sulk any longer.”

 

“ _ Fae _ ,” said Otabek, in the most disbelieving, borderline hysterical voice he’d ever heard. “I take back everything I said about finding other members of your species interesting. Compared to you, everyone else is tame. You’re the only one I’ve met who’s really-” 

 

“Bitchy?” Yuri suggested. 

 

“I was going to say  _ intense, _ ” Otabek said, “And maybe a little insane.”

 

“Intense,” Yuri echoed. “I’d make you explain now if I wasn’t sure that you’re doing your best to distract me.”

 

“And it was working, too,” Otabek muttered under his breath, but before the mood could dampen too much Yuri started talking. 

 

“We aren’t born exactly like you, but it’s not too different either. I’ll use my birth as an example. I’m the guardian of a river, and I can’t exist without it. Now, rivers take years to form, as most start small- like, a tiny trickle of water small. I was not born in a second because my river was not created in a second, but through a period of time until eventually it became considered an actual landmark, and not just a few drops of water in a forest. However, we still have to uh… procreate the same way, but for us to exist we have to have a, well, home isn’t the right word, but we live there and it houses our souls. So we aren’t born very often, but we tend to live very long, because nature does not change so easily.”

 

“So in order for a fae to exist, something new in nature has to be created?”

 

“Yes. But they can be shared between family. They can also go to spouses,” said Yuri, thinking of Victor and Yuuri. “The two friends I mentioned before -they both inhabit a lake, even though they aren’t guardians.”

 

Otabek looked confused, and Yuri realized that with all the knowledge he had on fae, the knight didn’t know about the different types. Which was understandable, he knew, because he’d probably never had to deal with the others, but surprise flooded him nonetheless. Huh. 

 

“A few decades after we’re born, when we’re still fairly young-”

 

Otabek made an indignant sound that he ignored. 

 

“-fae discover their classes.”

 

“Am I supposed to know what that means?”

 

“I was getting there,” Yuri said impatiently. “Classes are… sorting systems. Labels, I suppose, or sections, for the different types of fae. There are three.”

 

He held up his hand, raising a finger as he counted. “Warrior fae, guardian fae, and royal fae. Warrior fae are the most aggressive and the most skilled at combat magic. Because of this, they often guard the fae world from harm. Most of them can be found in the faerie army, and rarely do they journey to the outside world. Then there are guardian fae, who live in the outside world, and guard a certain territory. Their ‘home’, it’s called, where they deal with Questers that pass by. In case you couldn’t tell, I’m one of them. The last type of fae is super rare, and honestly barely counts as a class, but royal fae are exactly what they sound like- fae of the royal line. They don’t really do much, except for maybe the King, who rules over the Fae Court, but they have this thing called the Charm.”

 

Otabek straightened. “What’s that?”

 

“A magical ability exclusive to them. They can… I don’t know how to explain it… magically compel people to do what they want, I guess.”

 

Otabek leaned closer, eyes wide. “So they can make people do what they want?”

 

His tone was a mix of awe and horror. Yuri shrugged. “Sort of? It’s a bit more complicated. You-”

 

“So if the King told someone to do something, they’d have to do it?”

 

“No. As far as I know it’s not vocal. I…” Yuri shook his head, trying to put it into words. “I suppose it’s like a… feeling overcomes you. Not a  _ feeling _ feeling, like an emotion -you wouldn’t feel happy if they told you to be happy, but you would feel like you should be happy and think that you were.”

 

“But they’d do it.”

 

“Yes, usually. Sometimes, if a someone has a strong will, they can resist it to a certain degree. But it’s very difficult, because Charm affects both your body and your mind, and the only thing left to fight is your heart.” He winced at how cheesy that sounded. “Apparently.”

 

“Doesn’t that affect fae politics at all, if the leader can control everything everyone thinks?”

 

“You ignore the fact that there are other royal fae,” Yuri pointed out. “They may be rare compared to the others, but there’s still enough of them to have their own section. Big families, you know. There are loads of branches from the main family to the distant cousins who only use their Charm to try and get discounts on beer. And not all of them have agendas that align with the rulers. If the King tried to use his Charm to sway the population for his own causes, you bet that there would be fae making sure everyone knew what he was doing. Rulers never use the Charm in such a public way -it’s a political disaster waiting to happen.”

 

“I see,” Otabek said. “So you’ve never felt the Charm? You don’t know how strong it is?”

 

Yuri narrowed his eyes, suspicious of his surprised (and slightly disappointed?) tone. “...Why do you ask?”

 

To his surprise, Otabek blushed. “I mean, you gave such a descriptive explanation, I thought that, you know, and if you’d been used…”

 

“ _ Oh _ ,” said Yuri, blushing too. “No, but uh, thanks…”

 

Silence descended between them. Yuri felt hyperaware of every beat of his heart, each pulse sending more blood to his cheeks. He felt almost nostalgic for the angry Otabek of before -actually, he really didn’t, Yuri thought, snapping to attention once more. A few more seconds of this and Otabek would relapse. 

 

He continued talking, attempting to distract the knight -not that he really needed to, for the knight was already enraptured. They started walking again, and the knight hung off his every word. Surprising. He hadn’t expected Otabek to be so interested (he hadn’t planned much of this conversation, really). If Otabek was so concerned about fae political corruption as a result of the Charm, Yuri could only wonder as to how he’d react if he ever found out the dynamics of the Fae Court, and the power struggles in the Council, but that would have taken ages to explain, Yuri thought, so he didn’t, though his mind whirred. The Noble Houses, fae culture… this structure of class and status was what held the fae world together, what prevented it from being torn apart by power struggles or war (though barely). Rules like the Quester’s Protocol kept fickle fae from bucking the rules, kept the power in and the kingdom strong. He’d learned when he was young that everyone had a role and everyone had a place. Their magic was only to be utilised in a certain way, and these ways were what made the magic useful. Otabek listened to all this was a thoughtful face, looking as if he was trying to take everything in. It was a testament to how absorbed into his conversation Yuri was that he didn’t feel a rush of pride of successfully distracting the knight, for he was too busy talking.

 

“Victor is warrior class. His family, the Nikiforovs, are famous for turning out amazing warriors. They’re on the Council. His tutor, Yakov, is as well.”

 

“And the other guy?”

 

“Yuuri’s royal, though he’s only distantly related to the main family. The Katsukis have an ancestral home near these hot springs that they call Hatsetsu. That’s where they met -Victor was stationed there for something and it was ‘love at first sight’, or so he says.” Yuri wrinkled his nose. “They’re both pretty powerful, though. Like a gross, cuddly power couple.”

 

Otabek looked fascinated by this. “So wait -the other Yuuri can like, magically convince people to do what he wants to do?”

 

“Yes. It makes him pretty intimidating to some fae. Not me, though.”

 

Otabek looked amused. “Right, you call him pig.”

 

“Inside joke,” Yuri said. “He’s too nice to use his Charm, so I’ve always done what I want.”

 

“I’m pretty sure you would do that anyways,” Otabek replied. 

 

Yuri smirked. “Not untrue.”

 

They drifted off into silence for a while, until Yuri noticed that Otabek was furrowing his brow, almost as if he was confused about something. Yuri nudged him. 

 

“What’s with that face?”

 

“What face?” Otabek said, shaking his head. “I’m not making a face.”

 

“Why’s your face all twisted, then? Did something I say not add up?”

 

“No -well yes, I mean…” Otabek paused. “You said you were a guardian, right?”

 

"Do I not look like one?" Yuri tried to keep his tone civil, but it probably wasn't. "People tend to say I look... well, not the part."

 

Some knights even dared to think that he was some sort of fae princess- it was absolutely ridiculous, not to mention insulting. The first couple of times it'd happened, Yuri had beheaded the fools. But then Yuuri had found out somehow and lectured him for hours about temper management and the virtues of kindness and at least a dozen other things. Not that he disliked annoying Yuuri, the exact opposite of course, it was just annoying to listen to that pig talk!

 

“Actually,” Otabek said, startling Yuri out of his reverie, “I would not have been surprised if you said you were a soldier. Uh, a warrior fae, sorry.”

 

_ Well _ . This was… new. 

 

“Really?” The word comes out too shocked, too sudden- the surprise and (dare he admit it?)  _ happiness _ is evident in Yuri’s voice. How pathetic, that a single word could make him react so strongly. 

 

(Distantly, he remembers yelling and taunting and memories of  _ girl  _ and  _ weak  _ and  _ weird. _ )

 

“Yes, I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but your eyes have quite the fighting spirit in them.”

 

Yuri’s wings fluttered. He felt like he was flying, buoyant with a feeling he couldn’t quite identify. “No, you definitely didn’t mention that.” 

 

“Really? It was the first thing I noticed about you.” Otabek said, and the way the words rolled off his tongue made Yuri’s heart feel lighter. The next words dropped a weight into his stomach. “I asked what your status was because I wanted to know how you knew them, if you weren’t a warrior or royal and- Yuri?”

 

Otabek had to turn back to talk to him, because Yuri had stopped dead. _ Fuuuuuuuck _ . 

 

The terrible thing was not that he realized the problem immediately, thought Yuri, it was that it took him so long to realize what the problem was. The Nikiforovs had long since been friends with the Plisetskys, both being noble families. Yuri had grown up to see Victor as a brother, had even worshipped him once upon a time. To him, there was no reason why Yuri  _ wouldn’t _ know Victor. 

 

But Otabek didn’t know at all. He didn’t know Yuri’s grandfather had been on the Council, or what had happened to disgrace their family name. If Yuri told him that his grandfather was important the way the Nikiforovs were important, would he ask why Yuri was guarding a river instead of taking over the family? Or, even worse, would he ask about-

 

“Victor’s tutor was originally a commoner,” Yuri said at last. “He knew my grandfather.”

 

It was not a lie. 

 

“Oh, okay,” said Otabek, looking a little relieved, “I thought I’d said something wrong for a second.”

 

“No no, it wasn’t that.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“Okay.”

 

There was a pause. 

 

“Hey, Yuri…”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“If there was something wrong you’d tell me, right? I mean, that’s what friends do, isn’t it?”

 

There was something stuck in his throat, Yuri thought, but no matter how much he swallowed it wouldn’t go down. “Are we… friends?”

 

“Yes,” Otabek said. “I mean, if you want to be.”

 

_ Do I?  _ Yuri thought. But strangely, the idea didn’t seem as repulsive as it surely would have been a few weeks beforehand. Memories came to mind -the pork cutlet piroshkis, the way Otabek blushed when he was flustered, talking as they rode the horse together… and he realized that somewhere along the way, he had stopped thinking of Otabek an enemy but as someone he trusted, and that he already had an answer. 

 

“I do,” Yuri said, and smiled. 

 

Otabek smiled back. 

 

Conversation died out as they made their way across the rolling dirt pathway, continuing on until it wasn’t so smooth anymore. The bumps and holes on the road were so much more obvious to Yuri now that he wasn’t spending the ride on a horse or in the air. His feet, unused to walking for so long, felt like they were beginning to blister. His legs felt heavy. 

 

Yet they had to take a detour to pick up more food. They’d lost the map, but Otabek claimed to have spent so long looking at it he basically had it memorized by now anyways. Yuri choose to believe him because it was better than the alternative. Still, it took hours for him to fall asleep that night, and from more than just the emptiness in his belly. 

 

The next day, they continued to walk. Yuri hated every moment of it. The conversation had been light the day before, but now his stomach growled as he took each step, demanding some sort of nourishment. Worst of all, however, was the dryness in his mouth and the tightness in his throat that made him want to do everything  _ but  _ talk. Thirst was the worst part of the day, and the day had barely even begun. 

 

Eventually, they found themselves in a sort of glen- the trees were larger, the branches shading them from the sun and cast the world around them into darkness. Around them, leaves reached out to them like beckoning hands, and the wind whistling through the forest seemed to sing its own song. But most prominent, or at least to Yuri, who had heard little else since the day he was born, was the unmistakable sound of moving water. 

 

He moved to grab Otabek’s arm, halting the knight. “Listen.”

 

Otabek’s mouth opened, face scrunched up irritably- then he heard it, too. The two of them turned to each other, budding smiles on their faces and identical thoughts in their minds. Rushing water meant a river. A river meant water, water meant the ability to quench thirst and also food. 

 

They took off at a run. 

 

As they went, Yuri couldn’t help but notice the wind had grown more active, whirling in the air and making his hair fly into his face. Sweet and melodic, it wrapped him in warmth, as if nature itself was offering a kind gesture. Yuri stiffened suddenly, but then relaxed -the wind wrapped around Yuri’s body like a caress, settled into his bones and drawing him forwards as if leading him on a chain. The song it sang sounded familiar, he thought, this forest felt familiar… he was slowly aware of himself drifting farther between the trees, oddly lightheaded, his feet still moving but almost as if they weren’t his own. He was also dimly aware that Otabek was following. 

 

They walked farther than they should have, as the world around them grew dark, dark, darker, and yet neither of them faltered or spoke up, so entranced they were by what they assumed was the wind’s whistling. Soon enough, they were in front of the lake they sought, its surface smooth and still like the finest of mirrors. Behind it, a waterfall stood resplendent in brilliant glory, waves crashing down on jagged rocks, creating the sound that Yuri had heard. Yuri took a few more steps forward, stopping near its edge, where the grass under his feet were just beginning to thin, dirt turning into mud the closer they got to the water. He and Otabek both knelt to drink, and fuck, drinking had never been more wonderful. 

 

And then it happened. 

 

Yuri pulled back, using his hand to wipe his mouth as he gazed out onto the lake. For a second, the smooth, still surface of the lake rippled, a shadow flickering under the water. He jerked backwards, and as the spell momentarily lessened its hold, one thought came to mind-

 

_ That song was not the wind.  _

 

But before he could speak, or scream, or even begin to feel more than a trickle of horror, a siren surfaced the water, and the song grew ten times in volume. 

 

Everything distorted, green and blue and brown mixing together and suddenly Yuri couldn’t tell which way was up and what was in front of him-

 

_ We have to get away,  _ Yuri thought desperately.  _ Otabek, where are you? _

 

And then he stopped thinking altogether. 

 

(Because.)

 

“Yurochka.”

 

(No.)

 

“Yurochka?”

 

( _ Not possible. _ )

 

Yuri turned. 

 

He wasn’t by the lake anymore. The sky was shining a robin egg blue and his river, the Great River was in front of him. But that wasn’t what really grabbed his attention, the impossibility of being back home dwarfed by the greater impossibility sitting on the rock beside the river. 

 

(Grandpa?)

 

As if on cue, Yuri’s grandfather -his very much dead grandfather- stood and opened his arms for a hug. Nikolai Plisetsky smiled, and it was just as soft and warm as Yuri remembered. Without thinking, he ran forwards, accepting the hug. His grandfather smelled like earth and petrichor, and his dark eyes sparkled when his grandson tried to reach to knock off his hat and failed. 

 

(It was then he realized he couldn’t quite control what he was doing.)

 

(That this wasn’t happening in the present, but a memory.)

 

“Nice try, Yurochka,” Nikolai said, patting his grandson on his head and ruffling Yuri’s blond hair. Memory-Yuri pouted, but inwardly beamed at the nickname and affectionate gesture. Maybe he’d succeed in distracting Nikolai, and the man would change his mind. 

 

His grandfather chuckled, like he knew what Yuri was thinking. 

 

“No can do, I’m afraid,” he said gently, as Yuri realized he’d said the last sentence aloud. “I’ve made up my mind. Be a good boy and watch the river for me?”

 

“But I don’t want you to leave!” Memory-Yuri wailed, clasping the end of his coat with a chubby fist. He gazed up at his grandfather, trying to make him understand how against the idea he was. “Then the only person who’ll visit me is Victor!”

 

“Be nice to Victor,” Nikolai chided, but there was no heat in his words. “The boy likes you. Besides, it’ll only be for a while. I’m not leaving forever.”

 

“You’ll come back?” Yuri said, not unclenching his fist even though he knew that if his grandfather desired it, he could just jerk out of the boy’s grasp. Yuri wasn’t strong enough to keep Nikolai here, even if he really wanted to. 

 

“Of course,” And the elder fae smiled that smile again, that smile that had always been everything Yuri needed to stop being worried. His fist loosened. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

 

(Liar.)

 

Clarity hit Yuri like a splash of cold water to the face. He became more aware of himself, unable to control his actions, in a limbo state where he could only watch what his past self was about to do. 

 

“Okay grandpa, see you,” and Memory-Yuri smiled too, cheerful in the way only his grandfather could bring out in him, and  _ Yuri let go.  _

 

(Why did he do it why why  _ why. _ )

 

Yuri felt even colder. He could still see the robin blue sky and river, still smell the scent of earth and rainwater, but he now knew, with an overwhelming sense of dread, that his grandfather wasn’t here anymore.

 

(His grandpa hadn’t been here for a very, very long time.)

 

He remembered clear skies and robin eggs and daisy-white clouds that looked as fluffy as rabbits. He remembered days that had ticked by, skipping rocks over the river, legs swinging as he waited. He remembered pointless activities, dullness, boredom, time blending into something indistinguishable until the day Victor had come, face pale because the warrior fae had always been shit at hiding his emotions. But most of all, he remembered the way the words  _ He’s dead, Yuri  _ had sounded, and the way hope felt when it shriveled like a dying flower... 

 

(No no no, this is not real, this is dangerous, he has to get out-)

 

“Yurochka,” His grandfather laughed, a shadow of his former self, airy and smiling until he’s not, his eyes are all wrong, they’re blank, they’re  _ lifeless- _

 

(He reaches his arm out, he’s screaming, someone make it go away-)

 

“You let go, Yurochka,” The not-Nikolai said, and Yuri can’t seem to break his gaze, entranced by the cold voids of his dead grandfather’s eyes. They pin him down and accuse him and make centuries of guilt rise to the surface. “You let go.”

 

(Someone, anyone, he begged.)

 

(Otabek, help me.)

 

Yuri collided into a tree, an unforgiving  _ bang  _ echoing throughout the forest as his head slammed into the trunk and his body went tumbling down. He flipped over a couple of times, lightning fast before he could move, and when he finally slowed to a stop his head hit a tree root. A groan slipped out of his mouth. 

 

“Yuri!” He heard Otabek’s voice, distantly, from amidst the fear and pain. “Yuri?”

 

“Otabek,” Yuri managed to groan, and tried to sit up but doubled over with pain before he could. 

 

He heard screaming, sounds of metal clashing against something, then footsteps, heavy ones accompanied by the clanking of what could only be armour.

 

“Yuri,” Otabek was much, much closer this time. “Can you walk? I distracted her for a moment, but we’ve got to run-”

 

“No I cannot fucking walk,” Yuri mumbled into the ground, unsure if Otabek could even hear him. “Could you-”

 

And that’s when he heard it again, softer this time, but unmistakable in its eerie tone. The siren was singing again, and soon her voice would recover enough that they’d be lured back, and this time Yuri knew that he wouldn’t have the strength to fight it off. 

 

Scrambling to his knees, Yuri took Otabek’s arm without a second thought and together they lifted him onto his feet. Staggering in a random direction, the pair didn’t stop until they were positively sure they were out of her reach. 

 

“Fucking hell,” groaned Otabek. Yuri couldn’t remember if that was the first time he’d heard the knight swear or not, but he wholeheartedly agreed with the statement. “Fuck.”

 

They let go of each other’s grips, Yuri stumbling his way over to the nearest tree and sliding down it, panting. 

 

They’d been attacked, twice. Their horse was gone, their supplies were gone. They had no map, no food, and no water. They were both tired, weary, and emotionally vulnerable. They had no fucking clue where they were.   

 

Yuri wanted to yell. He wanted to scream and rage and throw a fucking fit at the world and all its unfairness. In spite of all this, the first thing that came to mind was- “You liar.”

 

Otabek blinked, a look of pure confusion on his face. “What?”

 

“You-” Yuri coughed, spitting out some dirt that he’d gotten into his mouth. There was a slight pause before he managed to choke out- “You said this Quest would be boring. You liar.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... yeah. :)))))))))
> 
> I like this chapter more than most because it not only contains The Scene™ with the siren, which I wrote before the first chapter was done, by the way, but also a not too shabby kidnapping scene, if I do say so myself. I had to research how to kill horses for this chapter, which was pretty difficult, but I'm sure you don't want to focus on that. Concentrate on the more important things, like the death and suffering. 
> 
> Reviews validate me! ;)


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was something interesting about anger. Yuri was familiar with the emotion, or at least, he figured he was. It was no stranger to him, no, it was an old friend that came calling at odd times, for reasons that held little to no worth to the most justifiable of explanations. He’d hosted his fair share of anger. If he was being honest, he’d probably experienced more than a fair share. Victor would certainly attest to that, and an entire childhood of petty squabbles and genuine fury would support him. 
> 
> (And yet.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why my readers should not live in Canada: The weather has been unpredictable these last few weeks. Sometimes it's cold, other times it's hot and sticky, and to be honest I hate the latter because my parents despise air conditioning with a burning passion. So I end up feeling like I'm drowning in my own sweat.
> 
> Other news: School has started here, which sucks, and despite fast tracking a course I still have loads to do. I don't know how other students do it. 
> 
> Also, I'd originally felt good about this chapter because I wrote like, the first thousand words very quickly, but then I hit a snag and got stuck. I'd add more to this, but I feel like I discuss how I hate my chapters too often. From now on, unless explicitly told otherwise, assume I hate everything I have ever written, ever. 
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!

There was something interesting about anger. Yuri was familiar with the emotion, or at least, he figured he was. It was no stranger to him, no, it was an old friend that came calling at odd times, for reasons that held little to no worth to the most justifiable of explanations. He’d hosted his fair share of anger. If he was being honest, he’d probably experienced more than a fair share. Victor would certainly attest to that, and an entire childhood of petty squabbles and genuine fury would support him. 

 

(And yet.)

 

Yuri stared at the grass in front of him, twirling a strand between his fingertips like he’d twirl his hair. It didn’t bend, however, instead slipping between his grasp every chance it could, not quite long enough to achieve what he wanted it to do. 

 

A day ago, a few hours ago, even, this would have infuriated him. He would have been frustrated over a small thing, because that’s just how Yuri was. His anger bubbled deep inside of him, like a volcano with fire that could not be contained, roaring and pulling until it burst. His anger was  _ loud _ , and devoured everything it could see with unrelenting mercy. 

 

(And yet.)

 

He felt none of that, now. 

 

Yuri had never thought that he’d be able to feel anger that did not scorch and burn, but now his insides were cold, like lava that had hardened into cool, hard stone. As much as he wanted to be angry, knew he should be angry… he couldn’t seem to feel anything but a frozen numbness. Even hunger, which had raged at his insides, yearning, desperate, _ needing _ , had hollowed out to something dull and cold in his stomach. Nothing but the cold reality of death, everywhere. 

 

Dimly, he was aware of Otabek (dimly, he was aware of everything, because everything had faded to grey) behind him, and the knight's ragged breath. Yuri's breath was not ragged, it came easily, far too easily for Yuri's liking, in a shallow exhale that let none of his bottled feelings through. 

 

He was staring at grass, the green of it like emeralds in the sunlight. Sunlight, because it was day, and a bright day, and a warm, fall day, where he had no right to be as icy and frozen cold as he was. 

 

Yet here he was, with an anger that could make everything barren and empty. 

 

They were now far more east than they’d originally planned to be. Not to mention much hungrier and unprepared than they expected. They could still reach the forest that surrounded the mountain, but how long would it take, now? How long could they afford to fall behind? 

 

Behind him, the dimly noted Otabek was probably thinking about these things. Yuri tried to, he really did- it was what he should be examining, how to best get them out of this situation. What they should do next, so that this Quest wouldn’t be more of a failure as it already was. 

 

_ But his anger wasn’t rising.  _ Instead, it stayed below, spreading beneath his skin, a phantom itch he could not scratch. 

 

He scrunched up his shoulders, rolling his wings back, like that could fix him and make him  _ feel _ . They felt oddly light, fragile almost, despite how strong he knew they were (and how strong they’d proven themselves to be, back at the village). Yuri’s body shuddered, and he shoved the thought aside. He was not breakable. He would never be breakable. Except he’d been such a broken thing, down at the lake before. 

 

He inhaled. Exhaled. His breaths sounded like water droplets hitting the ground. Like a countdown to the time when the last of water slipped between cupped hands, only to go  _ pitter patter _ on the lake below in a pale imitation of rain. Any moment now Otabek would speak, and his words would be scathing and hot with fire- his anger was not like Yuri’s, he was sure. He’d seen some of Otabek’s anger now, and he knew he wouldn’t like it. 

 

The knight had not replied after Yuri called him a liar, instead falling silent against the tree. But he wasn’t so naive to think the time would never come. Otabek would speak, and his cool, unfeeling moment of peace would shatter, like thin ice under a boot heel. 

 

He was feeling oddly poetic today. He chalked it up to an unhealthy amount of trauma and near death situations. Those were probably bad for the soul. 

 

He continued breathing, each time feeling more of an itch throughout his body. He should be thinking about things. Important things, that was. They were out of supplies. They needed food. 

 

(His stomach felt empty, and the emptiness was somehow worse than the constant yearning.)

 

They were out of supplies. They needed food. They needed to go to the mountain. They should be going to the mountain, why weren’t they?

 

Right. Because they needed food. They needed supplies. They-

 

Yuri shook his head. His hands clenched into fists in his lap. They were even colder than before. 

 

No matter what he did, his mind ran around in circles. Thinking and noting, but not coming up with any solutions. Nothing was happening. They had to go to the mountain, they had-

 

Otabek coughed, the sound rough and startling in the silence. 

 

Yuri's finger froze, the blade of grass he was trying to bend straightening once more. He paused a second, wondering whether to look up, whether it was worth the effort to break the seemingly impenetrable ice that he felt was covering his body, whether it would be more painful to look Otabek in the face or at the floor. 

 

He looked up a few seconds too late to be natural, but his face was schooled into stone. 

 

Otabek coughed again, this time sounding emptier, more rattling than surprising. He started talking a few seconds later than what was natural. "Are you... okay?"

 

Yuri blinked. He waited for the incredulity to come, the hysteria, a tide of feelings to sweep him off of his feet and into a fit. But while he felt something stir in his stomach, the itch rising a little and making him suppress a shudder, there wasn't a wave that knocked his composure off balance. 

 

"I mean, you're obviously not, but..." Otabek waved his hands, except it wasn't quite a wave than a sad, floppy imitation of one, but Yuri got the message nonetheless. 

 

He opened his mouth to speak. Swallowed. Waited for words to come (He was doing a lot of waiting, wasn’t he?). 

 

Nothing. There was nothing. He couldn’t stand Otabek’s gaze on him, patient until it turned knowing, and he felt it again, the itch -it rose a little, scuttling along his back like a centipede, making him shudder for real this time. Yuri averted his gaze and shrugged. The silence was stifling. 

 

“I don’t know,” He said, though whether or not he was saying he didn’t know if he was okay or why he was shrugging again was uncertain. He forced himself to meet Otabek’s gaze, and because he really didn’t know, and because he didn’t know much more than what he felt he didn’t know, he said, “What do we do now?”

 

“Leave,” Otabek replied, the knight’s tone dry.  _ Leave _ , repeated Yuri’s mind, with an edge to it he couldn’t name. Of course they had to leave. Only if they left they could find food and water and maybe even a new place to stay. But the answer was irritating. It couldn’t be as simple as that. They had so much they needed to do, and leaving would be the start of actually getting it done. But  _ it couldn’t be that easy _ . 

 

There was another beat of silence, finally broken by the sound of rustling cloth. And here it comes, thought Yuri, fighting the urge to close his eyes. Yuri heard a sigh from behind him, and saw legs come into view. He didn't glance up this time, but he didn't have to. Otabek crouched down and so he could be at face level with Yuri. 

 

"That does mean we have to go, you know," The knight said. 

 

Yuri stubbornly did not reply. 

 

The knight sighed again. Yuri wondered how irritated he was. He didn't think Otabek would be as mad as back then, but maybe not. Maybe Otabek would continue to surprise him. 

 

"Do you  _ want _ to leave?”

 

"Sure, why not?" said Yuri, and for the first time, he felt a flicker of irritation inside of him. Instead of making him happy, however, it just made him even more uncomfortable. He didn’t mean that. He didn’t want to leave. He also didn’t want to stay. 

 

"Then what do you want?" Otabek said, which Yuri didn't want either. 

 

Yuri shrugged again. He knew he was acting irrationally, like an upset toddler might, perhaps, but he couldn't really bring himself to care. 

 

"I understand that you want to shut yourself off," Otabek’s paused, and his next words sounded softer. "But we're going to have to talk about it eventually."

 

Yuri flinched. “No, we're not."

 

"Look," said Otabek, and that one word was one word too much. 

 

“No. No. No no no no no.” Yuri shook his head, clambering to his feet. The knight stood as well. 

 

"We," He said, gesturing between the two of them, "Are not going to talk. Because to have a we, you need at least two people, and I for one am not having this conversation."

 

"But-"

 

"No."

 

"Would you listen-"

 

"No. Stop it.”

 

“ _ Please _ -”

 

“No!”

 

Otabek drew back, running one hand through his hair in frustration. He looked at Yuri, and Yuri could only imagine how he looked, eyes wide, probably, and frantic. Otabek shook his head, inhaling sharply. When he glanced back up, his features were schooled into something like exasperation. “Fine. We won’t talk, then.”

 

Yuri’s lips pursed. He had a feeling it wasn’t going to be that easy.

 

“But-”

 

There it was. 

 

“I said no.”

 

“-I can’t help you if you don’t let me,” Otabek finished. 

 

“I don’t need your help,” Yuri said. 

 

Otabek raised an eyebrow. A nearby bird made a squawking sound that was probably a coincidence, but sounded oddly incredulous all the same. Yuri glared at it and it took flight, ruffling its feathers and soaring into the sky. 

 

Yuri wished he could do that. 

 

“I have needed your help, occasionally, for unfortunate reasons several times during this Quest,” Yuri finally admitted, and feeling oddly defensive at the way Otabek looked afterwards, hurried to continue. “But so have you. Every battle we’ve fought so far where our lives have really counted have been fought equally.”

 

“ _ I _ battled the siren,” Otabek said. 

 

“And  _ I _ got myself out of their trance,” Yuri retorted. “How did you end up getting out, anyways? Because I remember it was after me.”

 

Otabek blushed, cheeks tinted red. “That is- that was- it might have had something to do with you, but that doesn’t mean-”

 

“You see?” said Yuri. “Every time my life’s been in danger yours has been, too. We would never have gotten away from the bandits or the villagers if I-”

 

“And me,” Otabek interjected. 

 

“-hadn’t been there,” He finished. “Like I said, every time-”

 

“Every time but one,” Otabek said. 

 

Yuri’s mouth closed. He tilted his head, glancing at Otabek questioningly. “What do you mean-”

 

He stopped. 

 

(No.)

 

_ No,  _ said Otabek’s wide eyes and raised eyebrows. The knight shocked at his own daring, the four words that had slipped out of his mouth unbidden, four words that had caused Yuri’s world to spin on its axis. He looked regretful, and surprised and horrified and what he had done. But-

 

He did not deny it. 

 

“You- you how could you-” Yuri spat the words out, almost choking on them and the hate they stirred up within him. His face was beet red, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. His palms hurt from where his nails dug into them. 

 

“You goddamn fucking-” Yuri began, but he couldn’t think of anything quite insulting enough. 

 

“I didn’t,” said Otabek, but Yuri wouldn’t have it. 

 

Waving his arm in front of him, the knight’s message stopped in his tracks. Otabek’s mouth moved, but no words came forth. His eyes were circles, as he, literally speechless, raised on hand to his throat, and the sound that had once come from there. 

 

Yuri lowered his hands, fists unfurling. He could see the marks that had formed there from clenching too tightly, they were red against his pale skin. He felt dizzy, almost, like he couldn’t believe what had happened, but there it was- his palms held tangible proof that Otabek had said those words to him, and Otabek’s silence was proof that he had retaliated. 

 

For one moment, one cold, quick paced moment, Yuri saw the shock on Otabek’s face and felt regret. But the damage had been done by them both. 

 

Otabek stared at him like he’d grown two heads, as if he wasn’t recognizable anymore. He made several more attempts to speak, but it didn’t work. His hands were constantly moving, gesturing to himself and his mouth, and his eyes were still wide, but rapidly gaining insight. Finally, his hands stilled. 

 

Yuri knew that he should speak, say something, clear up the situation. But he couldn’t seem to find any words, good or bad. Otabek kept staring at him, and he was struck with the sudden urge to take his sight, too, so things would be less awkward. Except would they really, if he was only running away? The problem would stay there. 

 

He shifted, awkwardly. Shame rose in him, but he squashed it down with the memory of what Otabek had implied. The thing he’d nearly forgotten, so long ago, where they had stared at each other and Otabek had seen a part of his soul. Something he’d fought so hard to hide, an explosion of anger from intimacy given too soon- the incident that caused this whole fucking mess in the first place. 

 

“Are you okay?”

 

_ No, I’m not fucking okay, _ Yuri wanted to snap, and then he jerked his head up, eyes wide. Otabek looked no less shocked, a hand on his throat like he couldn’t believe what had happened. 

 

Yuri’s cheeks coloured with embarrassment. Dammit.  _ Dammit _ . How often had Victor told him that losing control over your emotions meant you lost control over your magic? Holding spells was an elementary skill. How long had it been since he slipped up like this?

 

“I’m sorry,” Otabek blurted, like he was scared that he wouldn’t be able to say it if he waited a second longer. He went red. “Listen, Yuri- I didn’t mean to say that, okay? I was angry. Hungry. Hangry? Ugh, that’s not an excuse. You don’t have to tell me. But I’ll support you if you want to.”

 

_ Why thank you, Otabek, for your kind words. I was being a dick, too, and I forgive you.  _ Yuri knew that was what he should say. It was what he almost felt like saying, seeing Otabek’s hurt face, but what ended up coming out of his mouth was, “We are  _ not _ talking about what happened.”

 

Otabek looked unhappy about it, but acquiesced. “Fine.”

 

The word was short and hard, like a knife hanging in the air between them. 

 

They continued walking, footsteps pounding on the dirt surface, and a stony silence hanging through the air. As the seconds ticked on, Yuri felt anger brew beneath the surface. Though rationally Yuri knew that he had, by all means, won the argument, it didn’t seem like it at all. He knew he was being a bitch and wasn’t in a mood to stop acting bitchy. He just couldn’t bring himself to feel happy. Fuck, couldn’t he be satisfied with something?

 

Tilting his head, he considered how he’d have felt if Otabek had been slightly less patient and exploded at him. In this world, he thought, Otabek would have insisted that he had a right to know, that Yuri wasn’t alone in this Quest. Despite not possibly meaning the latter one, his eyes would have that fierce look in them and his cheeks would have been red. “Goddamn it, Yuri, you’re not alone in this Quest!”

 

_ “Oh, fuck you!”  _ He imagined himself saying. He would have been reckless and daring and  _ furious,  _ absolutely gunning for a fight. And perhaps they would have fought, if they’d been stupid enough. As if summoned, Otabek’s voice rang out inside his head. 

 

_ “Don’t be ridiculous, we can’t afford to-” _

 

“ _ Fight me _ !” And that was his own, shouting this time. Yuri could see himself clenching his hands into fists. “Criticise my temper from your moral high ground all you want, but you want to deck me, I know it.”

 

“Fine!” The imaginary Otabek screamed, throwing his arms into the air. “Since you’re not going to believe me, fine! You know, I wanted to be friends, maybe even thought we were for a while, but obviously I was wrong. You’ve never had an ounce of trust in me from the fucking start.”

 

“Why would I?” Yuri snapped. “You’re a  _ knight _ .”

 

“And  _ you’re _ a dick!”

 

Yuri recoiled, a look of pure shock on his face. Despite it being probably a long time coming, the words felt like he’d been slapped. 

 

Otabek’s face was twisted angrily, “Do you think you’re the only one who’s ever lost someone? Who  _ could  _ lose someone in this Quest? My sister is dying, and I’m out here with no food, no water, and no horse. Nothing but an uncooperative fae who’s decided their soul meaning in life is to hate me!”

 

“Excuse me? In case you’ve forgotten, I’m also stuck here, with no food, no water, and no horse, except I’ve got a knight who- who-” Yuri stumbled over the words. He wanted an insult, an explanation for his fury, except suddenly he could think of nothing but the day long ago when the knight had asked to be friends, and his heart felt heavy. 

 

“Who what?”

 

Yuri shook his head, ending his previous train of thought. “If I annoy you so much, it’s too bad you didn’t leave me when you had the chance.”

 

_ It’s too bad I didn’t choose the other option _ , he would have said, except he knew it wasn’t true. But for a moment, he tried to make himself believe that he resented him so badly that he’d done that instead. See if Yuri had died, he thought. That would serve the knight right, for being such a dick. Let him feel guilty, and sad, and cry over Yuri’s soulless body-

 

Yuri was suddenly struck with the image of him, still as a corpse, laid down on the ground with Yuuri and Victor crouched over it. Yuuri distraught, sobbing as Victor tried to comfort him, but he too was crying…. 

 

He stopped in his tracks, shoulders slumped as he fought back a shudder. The illusion of his fake argument shattered, and he felt exhausted, like hating so much was taking a mental toll on him. From in front, Otabek paused and turned back to look at him. The expression on his face was concerned, and suddenly, Yuri felt all of his anger rush out of him. Try as he might, he just couldn’t stay mad at Otabek any longer. They both had people waiting for them back home.

 

“I’m... sorry,” Yuri exhaled after a brief moment. “I’ve been pretty terrible. I mean, the past few days have sucked, but that’s no excuse, like you said. And… So I guess that’s all I wanted to say. Yeah.”

 

Otabek observed him with that searching look of his. It was only until Yuri shifted under his scrutiny, his stomach letting out a low gurgle that he dropped his gaze. When he looked back up, a sheepish smile had crossed the knight’s face. “You’re forgiven. I’m just as hungry as you are.” 

 

And then, “I apologise, also, for provoking you. I shouldn’t have asked a question that was so obviously unwelcome.”

 

“No, no, it’s not your fault,” Yuri said. “I’m a stupid idiot who acted out of turn.”

 

Otabek frowned. “You wouldn’t have  _ had _ to act if I wasn’t so-” 

 

Their eyes met, and suddenly both of them burst into laughter. 

 

“Let’s just agree that we’re both stupid idiots,” Yuri suggested. 

 

Otabek smiled, his dark eyes brimming with mirth. “Agreed.”

 

They laughed again, the sound of it bright and dazzling as the sunlight. Yuri turned his head into the wind, relishing the cool current it brought. For a while, the two of them hung in silence, tired but happy, for once willing to let the time pass and the words come when they could. A butterfly flew past them, landing on the ground near Yuri’s feet. He took a deep breath, taking his time. Before him, Otabek stared, a concerned crease between his eyebrows. It was in no ways easy trying to figure out what to say next, but Yuri managed it. 

 

"Do you remember when I told you that I knew Victor because his tutor knew my grandfather?" Otabek nodded, an uncertain look on his face. "Well, that wasn't quite true."

 

"Before I was the leader of the Great River," Yuri said, his throat tight, "It belonged to my grandfather. His name was Nikolai Plisetsky."

 

He inhaled again. it didn't get any easier. "The important part of that sentence being that he was a Plisetsky, a member -and the leader, at the time- of a Noble House."

 

He saw Otabek look surprised, lips opening slightly. He plunged on before that surprise could turn to anger. 

 

“The Plisetskys and the Nikiforovs are old friends. That's how I know Victor. But it's not really relevant to the story, just a fact I wanted to clear up. Anyways, most Noble Houses are known for something. The Nikiforovs, like I mentioned, produce great warrior fae. Well, the Plisetskys have a history of being guardians. And my grandfather was no exception. He was amazing at his job. Barely any knights would have gotten past him if he hadn’t been kind enough to give them leeway. I never understood it. Neither did many others.”

 

Nikolai Plisetsky was crazy, the more daring of them whispered. Others said he was odd, or strange, or weird. Eccentric at best. Yuri remembered cupped hands and mocking laughter, fae refusing to play with him, and his grandfather’s cool, calm smile as he pat Yuri on the head. 

 

_ Don’t pout, Yurochka _ , Nikolai had said, not unkindly. 

 

“But he was strong, so fae, for the most part, were willing to overlook it. And I did too, because though he was weird, he was  _ my _ weird grandfather, and I put up with it. He taught me how to catch fish in the river. He taught me the names of the plants that grew nearby. He taught me everything I knew, basically, and bandaged me when I got hurt fighting the other kids, because I had just as much of a temper even then." Yuri laughed, brittle. "I loved him. He was my favourite person ever."

 

There was a beat of silence. Yuri hugged his arms together over his chest and gazed upwards, avoiding Otabek's glance. Their breaths filled the space words did not. 

 

"What happened to him?" Otabek finally asked, already looking like he dreaded the answer. "I mean, I presume he died, but..."

 

"Yeah, he died," said Yuri. It felt anti-climatic to say, but he supposed it was easy to see where the story was going. He took a deep breath that seemed to last a lifetime. 

 

“One day, we were hanging out at the river like we usually did. Grandpa was teaching me how to whistle using a blade of grass, I think, and talking about how the day’s meeting went. Then a knight came. The knight said- well, the knight said a lot of things, but the sum of it was that he was on a Quest, and had been sent to fight a dragon that lived on the top of a mountain hill.

 

“Grandpa, naturally, got concerned about the knight. This was in the early days of Questing, you see, when most people weren’t so ambitious. Usually Questers that came to the river wanted things like more farmland, or were simply bored and testing the waters of something that wasn’t quite a trend. For a knight to take on a dragon had been unheard of. Grandpa got worried about him. 

 

“When he brought this up, the knight confessed he was a little concerned, too, but that someone he loved had been stolen by the dragon and he wouldn’t turn back no matter what. Now, this seemed like a completely stupid reason to try and get yourself killed, and normally fae would have just told that guy to fuck off, but my Grandpa was kinder than most fae. He became worried that the knight was so determined that he’d do something even worse to try and get to the dragon. And that he’d die doing so. So they were at a stalemate, because Grandpa didn’t want to let him pass, but he didn’t also want to say no. 

 

“Then the knight-” Yuri inhaled sharply, shuddering for a moment before continuing. “Then the knight said Grandpa could go with him if he wanted. That a knight and a fae would have a better chance against a dragon than him alone. So my grandpa agreed, and he left.”

 

Yuri swallowed. “And he didn’t come back.”

 

He could only remember bits and pieces of that day, though he’d tried, desperately in the beginning, to recall the details. A flash of sunlight against armour. His grandfather’s hand slipping out of his. Each bit was painful, each memory bled with regret. 

 

“People tell me it was his choice, but,” Yuri said. But he wouldn’t have had to make the choice if the knight hadn’t asked him. But he was supposed to have said no. But he was supposed to have loved Yuri more. 

 

“But it doesn’t feel that way,” Otabek said, and throat tight, Yuri nodded. 

 

The knight sighed, a little exhale. “Thank you for telling me.”

 

Yuri shrugged. 

 

More silence. 

 

“My sister,” Otabek cleared his throat. Yuri looked over. “She’s always been sick, for as long as I can remember. When she was young it didn’t seem so bad. I thought, a couple of times, that it would pass. And it would, which was the bad part, because those times always made me  _ hope _ .”

 

He said the word like it was dangerous, a tree on the edge of tipping over. 

 

“But each time it left it’d come back, and each time it came back it got worse. Last time it happened, she nearly died. The doctor had to stay at her bedside for ages, and though he knew our family and tried to cut us some slack, we had to pay him some money in return for his services. And on top of food, clothes, and everything else… well, when the king offered this Quest, I knew it was stupid, but part of me also thought if I can make this all go away…” Otabek trailed off. “Before I left, she told me-”

 

Otabek exhaled, “Well, she told me a lot of things, but the one that she emphasized the most was to not try too hard. To not risk my life if that was the price I had to pay for her medicine, to retreat if the job was too difficult, because she was already thankful for what she had.”

 

Yuri’s heart softened. 

 

“You’re a good brother,” He said. 

 

“She’s a better sister,” Otabek replied. 

 

“Thank you,” Yuri said, and they looked at each other in understanding. 

 

“So I guess what I’m trying to say is,” Otabek said, his words a little breathless and stuttering, “That even if I don’t understand, I’m really sorry, because I can’t imagine what it’s like-” 

 

He let out a breathless laugh. “Or maybe I should say that I can imagine too well bad it would be to lose someone so- so  _ close  _ to you.”

 

His voice cracked near the end, and Yuri’s eyes widened at this sudden break in composure, that Otabek, who was usually so put together, was actually making a heartfelt apology that sounded ten times more real than what he’d heard from most fae. And before common sense caught up to him, before he stopped to wonder if he was being too forward, Yuri moved to hug Otabek. 

 

The knight grunted, surprised, but he didn’t pull away. Strong arms wrapped around his back, pulling him upwards a little. Their height difference was a fucking annoyance, Yuri thought, he only came up to Otabek’s shoulder. But there was another strange feeling in his stomach, an odd flutter to his wings. He could feel the roughness of the knight’s armour, the heat between their two bodies. But most notable of all was the knight’s breath, warm and steady, against the back of his neck.

 

He moved his hand to cover the area. “Ugh, that tickles.”

 

Otabek drew back a little, eyebrows furrowed into a worried creased. “Ah, I’m sorry.” 

 

“No, it’s okay, it’s-” and then Yuri froze, for a number of different reasons. 

 

One, Otabek was closer than he thought he’d be. Much, much closer. The two of them were only a few inches apart. He could feel Otabek’s heartbeat against his chest, the heat of his arms against his back, see every flicker of emotion that ran through the knight’s eyes. Yuri exhaled and saw the stray hairs of Otabek’s undercut bend with the force of it. Yuri’s eyes narrowed in on that strand, sparkling golden brown in the sunlight. 

 

His cheeks coloured for reasons he didn’t know, and he shifted his gaze again- but not before he saw Otabek’s smile tilt upwards in amusement, and fuck, he was going to remember the shape of those lips forever. 

 

Beyond Otabek lay the forest, emerald green trees and plums of black smoke. The sky- wait. 

 

Yuri blinked his eyes, letting go of Otabek. The knight started to speak, but Yuri ignored him, and tilted his head, squinting. For few seconds he thought he’d imagined it, and his stomach squirmed as he desperately prayed he wasn’t. He didn’t think he could take it if he was, but even as he tried to stomp out the sparks of hope in his chest, Yuri raised his hand to block the sun from his eyes so he could see clearer. 

 

Otabek said something again, even as he pivoted in the direction that Yuri was facing. His words froze in his chest as he gazed at the horizon, and he saw what Yuri had seen-

 

And as smoke rose above the horizon, dark clouds a stark contrast against the blue sky, Yuri and Otabek took off into a run, both laughing, both smiling, for it seemed like their luck had finally turned around.

 

There was a town nearby. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would I be greedy to ask for reviews?


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Are you okay, brother?"
> 
> When Otabek opened his eyes, it was to a blur of colours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said I was going to stop apologizing for not getting out chapters soon enough because I sound like a broken record, but- I'M SO SORRY TO KEEP YOU WAITING SO LONG, AND NOT EVEN WITH A REALLY LONG CHAPTER TO MAKE UP FOR IT. I swear I had reasons. The past month of October has been crazy. I was fine for like, two weeks and then I was trampled by tests and assignments that my teachers had somehow decided should all be due on the same timeframe and I just... wow. Was not productive.
> 
> On other news, my sister has fallen into a really cringey fandom phase and I don't know how to deal.

_ Otabek didn’t know where he was.  _

 

_ Brother? _

 

_ There was a sound, ringing dimly in the distance, but he had to strain his ears to hear it.  _

 

_ Brother? _

 

_ Who was that, calling out to him? Where was he? _

 

Brother?

 

_ "Are you okay, brother?" _

 

_ When Otabek opened his eyes, it was to a blur of colours. He staggered, feeling oddly unbalanced. His vision swarmed, shades of brown blending together. His hand shot out- and it grabbed a wooden surface, one that was steadily become clearer as his eyes began to focus.  _

 

_ He turned.  _

 

_ Sunlight streamed through the window, casting a golden glow onto everything it touched. Pots of herbs and plants stood on the windowsill, tattered curtains pulled back to let them bask in the warmth. A light breeze soared through the room, ruffling the leaves. The whole scene radiated a relaxed and calm ambience.  _

 

_ To his right, clustered in the corner of this cozy room, was a smooth wooden table set with bowls and plates. Two chairs stood on either end of it, both worn, like they’d been used for a long time. One of the chairs was occupied.  _

 

_ Otabek blinked and rubbed his eyes, but it didn’t change what he saw.  _

 

_ There, on the chair, sat his sister.  _

 

_ To his surprise, he didn’t feel as shocked or startled as he should have. Instead he stepped forwards, feeling this urge to get close, almost as if he was being tugged forwards on a chain. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. It was like Yuri’s silence spell all over again.  _

 

_ Otabek stopped. Wait, Yuri- _

 

_ "Are you okay, big brother?" His sister asked again, and unbidden, Otabek’s gaze returned to her. Her brown eyes were wide with concern. His sister was kind like that. She had a welcoming smile and a warm aura that took you in like a friend’s.  _

 

_ When he didn’t reply, his sister’s mouth curved downwards in a frown. She shifted her seat closer and raised her hand as if she was going to touch him. He lifted his hand to- to- he didn’t know what he was going to do, whether he’d stop her or put a hand on her shoulder or ruffle her hair, only that he had to reassure her somehow. But his hand seemed to move in slow motion, unable to be hurried, and Otabek could only watch as his sister’s hand touched his arm.  _

 

_ It was ice cold.  _

 

_ Otabek's head jerked down, his eyes widening. He opened his mouth to demand an explanation, to ask if she'd just washed her hand with cold water, but when he glanced back up at her face, he was startled to see that it was slack, so pale she might as well have been a ghost. And her eyes, her kind, brown eyes, were completely blank. Unseeing.  _

 

_ Otabek screamed, and then he woke.  _

 

The first thing he noticed was the hammering in his chest, so quick that he felt like his heart was going to burst right out of him. The second thing he noticed, as the world began to bleed into focus, was that his arm was outstretched towards the ceiling, grasping thin air, still trying to hold on to his sister's hand. 

 

Otabek sat up. 

 

It was dark. A few strands of light was coming through the window, but it was so dim that it could only be from starlight. A gentle breeze moved through his room, grazing against his skin, and he took a few moments to try and control his breathing. 

 

That’d been… that’d definitely been unpleasant. 

 

He put his head in his hand and groaned. On instinct, his head jerked to the side, expecting to see Yuri there, but found that he wasn’t. 

 

He sagged with disappointment, then chastised himself for feeling that way. It was lucky that Yuri wasn’t here and that they’d been offered separate rooms at this hotel, luckier still that Yuri, while close enough to hear a commotion like a large ambush, slept soundly enough that he could miss one scream. 

 

Still, Otabek waited a couple of seconds to be sure, calmer now than before but still nervous. He didn’t know what he’d say if Yuri came in and demanded an explanation, because he didn’t have one to give. Or rather, he did, but it wasn’t one that he wanted to share. 

 

Otabek covered his mouth with his hand and groaned. 

 

Fuck. Was one night of good sleep too much to hope for?

 

He wondered if he could claim trauma, but he didn’t consider himself a particularly unlucky person who’d suffered much. After all, his last remaining family member wasn’t dead, and he wasn’t even the one suffering from bad health. How must have Yuri felt when his grandfather died? How must his sister feel back home, waiting for Otabek but not knowing when he’d come back?

 

Otabek quickly shoved those thoughts away, a pang in his chest. He didn’t want to think about what his sister might be feeling right now. How scared she might be. How Otabek was completely failing to be useful. 

 

He swung himself out of the bed, then paced a few circles in his room. When that didn’t help dissuade his thoughts, he headed out to take a walk. Otabek left his armour, not wanting to be saddled with the heavy metal, but grabbed his sword just in case. 

 

It was dark outside, like he expected, but Otabek appreciated the quiet. The air was slightly chilly, a dizzying reminder that summer had definitely passed by now. The knight strode down the road, gazing at the (for once) empty stalls and darkened shops, so devoid of their usual activity. This was nothing like the sights he and Yuri had encountered when visiting markets before. 

 

Otabek shook his head, angry at the sudden turn of his thoughts. Try as he might, he couldn’t keep his mind off Yuri. Or their last conversation. 

 

_ You’re a good brother _ , Yuri had said, and the sentence had since replayed in Otabek’s head more times than he could count. But Yuri didn’t know how much he’d wanted to turn back at times, when he’d been so scared that he could hardly breathe. Yuri didn’t know how selfish he had been as a child, how irritated he was seeing his sister stumble when she tried to walk, crying because he couldn’t go out when she got ill, all the times he’d buried his head in his pillow in the night and let her cough three more seconds than necessary before fetching medicine.  

 

_ You’re a good brother _ , Yuri had said, and not for the first time, Otabek wondered what that meant. What was being a good brother? What was family?

 

Shaking his head tiredly, Otabek stepped back into the inn (he hadn’t even noticed himself circling, had the walk been so short?). He really had to stop thinking about these things. 

 

The breakfast lounge at the Grand Prix Inn was a warm, cozy place. From behind the counter, the bartender waved cheerily while customers bustled around. It was too early for the morning rush, so Otabek hopped onto a barstool and rubbed his eyes, still feeling a little tired from lack of sleep. He hoped it didn’t show. 

 

“Is your friend still asleep?” The man asked, polishing a glass. Otabek shrugged, feeling guilty for not knowing. Maybe the man read the look on his face, because he quickly changed the topic to breakfast. After Otabek had ordered, barely sparing a glance at the menu as he did so, he was left alone. Others may have read it as rudeness, but Otabek was grateful that the man understood. 

 

Otabek was grateful about a lot of things, actually, but the villagers’ kindness was one of them. The knight had been to plenty of wonderful towns, too many to count, but this one definitely topped the list. Despite being shocked at the sight of a knight and a fae crashing into their town, practically screaming with joy, they’d regrouped quickly and welcomed them with open arms. 

 

Not to say that he and Yuri hadn’t had their suspicions. And to their credit, the villager’s had put up with this paranoia with a surprisingly good amount of good graces. They said they understood the reasons for their concerns and smiled sadly whenever he and Yuri jumped too much. 

 

As well, they'd gifted them inn rooms for free and helped them restock their supplies. Later, Yuri would point out that just like the old village had seemed to have been attacking fae for a while, this town seemed to have been taking care of any that ran. Otabek felt like that was a fair inference, though he wouldn’t have spotted the clues like Yuri had. Otabek felt like he wasn’t like Yuri in general- brave, bold Yuri who despite being kidnapped and attacked and who knows what else, still fell asleep so early at night, unlike him. 

 

He didn’t even know why he was so averse about hiding the nightmares. Did Yuri know and pretend to ignore them, or was he oblivious except for that one time before? Did it even matter? He figured at this point they'd already seen some pretty shitty sides of each other, and the fairy was still with him anyways. 

 

Well, Otabek reminded himself, he has to be with you or he'll become a lifeless vegetable. Don't think you're that important to him. 

 

No, the most precious thing in Yuri's life, he knew, had been the fae's grandpa. And however incidentally, that death had been the result of a knight’s actions, which made Yuri's aversion to them understandable. And he hadn't exactly been great so far. 

 

Otabek did suppose it could have been worse, but he would never stop regretting his outburst a while back and bringing up what caused this whole mess in the first place. He’d never forget the look on Yuri’s face. He still couldn’t believe that the fae had forgiven him, and been brave enough to share something so personal afterwards. Not for the first time, Otabek wished he had Yuri’s courage.

 

Otabek took a bite of his meal. He was aware that it probably tasted good, but it couldn’t help but feel bland in his mouth. Not that he should complain about that either, or- gah. He didn’t even know how he should feel nowadays. 

 

He stuffed another bite of bland food into his mouth. There was no running from fear, was there? Weeks later and miles away, his nightmares still haunted him and his thoughts still betrayed him. There seemed to be no escape from everything he hated most. 

 

In the worst, most terrible way, he almost envied Yuri for that. Because while his grandfather was dead, his grandfather would just stay dead. There was no changing that, no bringing the dead back to life, and no doubts about what had happened. 

 

All Otabek had was doubt. 

 

He'd been so confident when he'd started out, or at least, more so than now. So determined, so much energy... all those hours he'd spent packing his knapsack, all those days he'd spent assuring his sister would be looked after while he was gone... they'd given him hope, and hope had pushed him down that beaten path towards the nearby river everyone said couldn’t be crossed. 

 

And now what? No matter how he tried to look at it, a month was an awfully long time for a sick person to last. That was the thing about being between life and death- on one hand, you were still alive, on the other, you could slip off the precipice at any moment and no one could save you then. 

 

Otabek wondered if the real reason why he was here, away on this suicidal quest while he should be taking care of his sister back home, was not to look for a cure after all but because he couldn't bear it anymore. At least if she died between now and when he got home, he wouldn't have to see. Maybe death was kinder than this strange limbo. And maybe a companion was better than being alone, no matter what conditions prompted that companion to join. 

 

I really am a terrible human being, Otabek thought. I resent my own sister and I'm glad that someone was forced to endure this trouble with me. Why? 

 

He tried to get up, tried to move, tried to stop thinking about this and tried not to cry. But in his mind, all he could see was his sister smiling at him, smiling as he left her again, and letting him leave. Told him it was okay if he failed. Failed at what, Otabek didn’t ask, because the word  _ okay _ when it left her lips had had a thousand different meanings. 

 

(Fuck, he was going to cry.)

 

“Otabek!” 

 

Startled, Otabek pushed himself away from the counter so rapidly that for a moment, his stool teetered on its legs, nearly tipping over. Thankfully the bartender rushed to grab his arm, steadying him, and he had enough time to brush his arm over his face before the owner of the voice got to him. 

 

“Oh shit, sorry, did I surprise you?” Yuri said, grimacing over Otabek’s soldier. “Fuck, I woke up so late today I didn’t think anybody would still be done here.”

 

“Are you done?” Yuri continued when Otabek didn’t reply, his eyes falling to Otabek’s meal. Blushing, the knight realized that he’d barely touched his food since he’d gotten there. “Oh goody, you just started. Guess I’m not too late after all.”

 

_ Well, that makes one of us _ , Otabek thought, ignoring both his guilt at himself for thinking that and the bartender’s raised eyebrow at ‘just started’. “It’s fine, I mean- yeah.”

 

Yuri hopped onto a stool beside him. Due to his height, it took him a little more effort than Otabek had to get on. The fae yawned, not in a tired way, but like he was well rested. His hair was a slightly tousled, like he hadn’t had as much time to straighten it as usual. There was a little curl peeking out from behind his ear. Without thinking, Otabek reached over and smoothed it back. 

 

He realized too late what he’d done. Yuri’s face had turned a little pink, the colour easy to spot on his fair skin. Otabek felt himself blush too, the back of his neck oddly warm. “Ah, sorry-”

 

“No, no, it’s fine,” Yuri said, laughing nervously. Their eyes met for a second longer than normal before Yuri turned away, clearing his throat. “So, yeah, I’ll have an, uh-”

 

As Yuri ordered, Otabek busied himself with his food, this time actually attempting to eat. He chewed. The food had gone cold, but that was fine. 

 

“You know,” Yuri turned suddenly, apparently done with ordering. He brushed his hair back again, hesitantly, and smiled at Otabek. “I’m surprised you’re so calm right now. I figured you’d be pissed at me, considering today’s the big day.”

 

Otabek jolted, surprised. The big what? Wait. Right. Today was the day their guide was coming around to show them around town before they left for the mountain tomorrow. He’d forgotten, and from the look on Yuri’s face, his slip hadn’t gotten unnoticed. The fae looked positively delighted and said, “No- you didn’t forget?”

 

“I might have,” said Otabek, which was a good as a confirmation. 

 

“Ha! I can’t believe it!” Yuri grinned wickedly, lights dancing in his eyes. “You, Mister Responsible, forgot something I didn’t? Beat that, you knight!”

 

“Yes, but at least I didn’t sleep in,” Otabek shot back. 

 

“Oh no, you don’t get to turn the tables on me,” Yuri stuck his tongue out. “I will remember this moment and cherish it forever.”

 

“Fuck you,” Otabek said, but the words didn’t have any heat and Yuri knew it. He tossed his head back, laughing, and all Otabek could see was the way his hair swept over one shoulder and the expanse of his neck. 

 

A few minutes later, when they’d both eaten, the owner of the inn called them to say their guide had arrived. Otabek and Yuri both went to meet them- a young man with bright eyes and a cheerful smile, who asked them where they wanted to go. At that, Yuri happily blurted  _ the sweets shop,  _ and blushed afterwards because of how loud he’d been. But they all figured that maybe it was best to save food for later, since they’d just ate, and Yuri settled for seeing it in the afternoon. 

 

“As long as it happens,” He said, trying to sound uncaring but failing completely. The guide just laughed. 

 

The first stop they went to was the market, which now that it was later in the day, was absolutely bustling with people. Otabek relaxed at the familiar sight, and took turns debating reasonable prices with the guide over vegetables. Yuri flitted out and about, trying to see everything around him, and the scenery passed in hues of browns and reds and yellows. 

 

As time passed, they wore themselves down and took a short break to eat lunch. It was then that the guide finally made good on their promise and took them to the sweets shop, an amused smile on their face. Otabek had to hide a smile at the obvious energy Yuri was radiating, the fae looked positively delighted as he pressed his face against the window. His hands were spread as he gazed at the cakes on display with an obvious hunger. It reminded Otabek of the village children, and how they'd excitedly try and save up for a cookie. Barely anyone ended up succeeding, of course. Those things were much too expensive for normal commoners. 

 

"Want to go in?" The guide suggested after Yuri kept drooling for a couple more minutes. 

 

"Can we?" The fae looked like he was trying to hide his excitement, but he was failing quite horribly. "I mean, they all look so nice-"

 

"Sure," The guide said, laughing. “You folks have had a hard time getting here, and the cook's a big softie. He'll totally give you some for free."

 

"No, I'll pay," Otabek interrupted, then froze. 

 

"Do we even have money?" Yuri asked. 

 

"I-" Otabek shook his head, fighting the urge to punch himself. Stupid habits. He turned to the guide, apologetic. "I should give you something, at least. A thank you for your gratitude."

 

“No need for that,” He waved it off cheerily. “C’mon, you’re not going to say no to free food, are you?”

 

Otabek wanted to say no, actually, he could, but just then his stomach rumbled and he realized that maybe he couldn’t after all. 

 

And Yuri had already headed in, which made refusing rather pointless. 

 

“Alright,” Otabek said, and moved to enter. He was stopped, however, by the guide grabbing his arm hastily, almost like an afterthought. 

 

"Wait, actually, there is something you can do,” said the guide. Otabek tensed as he saw him reach into the vest at his side, but what emerged was not a weapon but leaflets of paper. 

 

He stared quizzically as they were handed over to him, his fingers curling over them but not quite gripping it. “What… are these?”

 

“Reports,” said the guide. “A whole collection of them. They contain detailed accounts of every single person who has ever wandered here injured or dying because of, uh. Certain unluckiness in places beforehand and how long it took them recuperate… or didn’t. We sent some over to the King, before, but no reply ever came- we think that either the post didn’t make it or that he didn’t, uh, seem inclined to listen.”

 

At this, they shifted awkwardly and gave Otabek an apologetic, almost nervous look. Otabek didn't blame them. The King tended to do that sometimes. 

 

“And you’re giving this to me because…?”

 

“Because you seem like a decent fellow,” He said. “And you’re a knight in his employment, which makes it more likely he’ll listen to you. Besides, isn’t this what knights do? Help save people? You’d be doing a lotta folks a favour if you take this to the King when you get back and ask him to do something. We don't want more people getting hurt." 

 

_ When you get back _ , Otabek played the words over in his head as he accepted the papers. It was a thicker pile than it should be. When, not if. He wished he could be as positive as they were. But he couldn't deny the request, not when the villager’s had been so kind and the guide looked so hopeful. "I will."

 

The guide smiled, turned back, and went inside. Otabek followed. 

 

The first thing that hit him was the smell, sweet and enticing, making his mouth water even though he wasn’t planning on eating anything. Cakes and pastries lined the walls, perched on wooden stands that only served to make them stand out more, all white with pink frosting. Some of the fancier ones even had fruits on them, strawberries cut into delicate-looking roses. 

 

Bread was placed closer to the front of the shop, the food that commoners would buy, and out of habit, Otabek went to check them over. They were all fresh, fluffy loaves, still warm to touch, and he couldn’t help but think how much his sister would like one of them-

 

A loud whoop distracted him. 

 

Otabek glanced over his shoulder. Yuri, who’d presumably let out the sound, was gazing at a berry pie like it held the greatest treasures in the universe. He was smiling, a bright, joyful look that matched the sun in brilliance. Otabek had only seen Yuri smile a few times, but each one felt warm, a brilliant, spontaneous action full of joy. It transformed the fae, who could sometimes be grumpy, to someone you absolutely wanted to be friends with. 

 

Then Otabek blinked and realized that Yuri had stopped looking at the cake, and was staring at him instead. Hurriedly, he pointed at something behind Yuri -which turned out to be a particularly elaborate cake- and said, “That one looks nice.”

 

“Does it?” said Yuri, and immediately spun around to look at it. “Let’s get it, then.”

 

And then Otabek couldn’t say no, because to refuse might mean revealing his lie. So without knowing what was happening, he stood to the side and watched as Yuri told the guide what he wanted (the cake, and also that pie, please). The guide looked at Otabek like he wanted to laugh but didn’t dare. Stifling a smile, he asked the owner of the shop to package it for them, as Yuri beamed and Otabek wallowed with guilt in the corner. 

 

Thankfully, the store owner said they’d deliver the things to the inn, so Otabek wouldn’t have to carry around a ginormous box for the rest of the day. The worst thing was he absolutely would have done it, if only to have Yuri smile at him again. 

 

Get. A. Grip, Otabek told himself, this is absolutely pathetic. 

 

They left the shop, Yuri happy and Otabek brooding. It only took a while for them to get distracted again, however, this time by something living. 

 

"What’s that?" Yuri pointed, and Otabek followed his gaze. He squinted at the bushes, which seemed to be rustling, catching a glimpse of white fur. 

 

"I-"

 

Then suddenly, bursting out of the bushes so quickly that Otabek stumbled before drawing his sword, came -he stopped, shocked- a cat. 

 

Staring at Otabek’s sword and looking completely unimpressed, the small creature yawned, showing off its tiny white teeth. It gazed at him as if saying,  _ Yes, I know that I’m super terrifying, but could you like, not? _

 

The guide burst out laughing. Sheepishly, Otabek lowered the sword. He felt like his cheeks were on fire. He wanted to despise the cat for making him look like a fool, but couldn’t find it in him to hate it. All it had to do was meow for Otabek’s heart to melt. It was a tiny thing, with white and black fur that was stained brown with dirt. Otabek didn’t know much about cats, but he couldn’t help but think this one was cute. Despite its fur being tousled it still looked strangely soft, and as he watched the cat stretched out and licked a paw, like it couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to them. 

 

“Awww,” Yuri’s voice was quiet, but his eyes were alight with delight. He leaned in towards the cat, smiling softly. “It’s adorable.”

 

“Where’d it come from?” Otabek looked at the guide. The guide shrugged. Yuri ignored them both and continued to stare at the cat, who was now rubbing itself along Yuri’s side. Otabek was pretty sure that wasn’t normal behaviour for a stray, but he couldn’t deny that they looked good together. 

 

“I’ll call you Puma Tiger Scorpion,” said Yuri, still smiling. 

 

Otabek did a double take. The guide said, “I’m sorry?”

 

The returning glare was merciless, and Otabek hurried to intervene. “It’s a cool name. What does it mean?”

 

“I’m not quite sure,” Yuri said, cradling the newly-dubbed Puma Tiger Scorpion in his arms. “Victor likes to talk about his travels and he mentioned them once. I personally think they’re made up creatures, but....”

 

Here he shrugged, and averted his eyes. “They sounded cool.”

 

His cheeks were a rosy, pinkish hue. Otabek tried not to look at them. 

 

“They do,” He agreed instead, because he was a sucker for that smile. Just then, the cat -Puma Tiger Scorpion, he reminded himself- abruptly detached itself from Yuri, bounding down the path. Yuri’s face fell, but to everyone’s surprise, it only disappeared for a few seconds before coming back, looking distinctly annoyed. It wound itself against Yuri again, except when the fae tried to get closer, it dashed away. And then it came back. 

 

Otabek didn’t know what to say. “Is it… trying to get Yuri to go somewhere?”

 

“Don’t be silly, it’s not that smart,” The guide said. “And besides, we’re not going to follow the cat.” 

 

There was a pause, during of which he obviously expected someone else to agree. “...Are we?”

 

“Yes,” said Yuri, eyes blazing, and without any further objection they followed the cat. 

 

The cat led them off the road, behind bushes and thorns and over well-hidden logs. Yet it danced in front of them like it knew where it was going, always walking fast enough that they’d have to keep up, but never quite out of sight. Several times, usually after nearly tripping over something, Otabek wondered if this was really a good idea and considered calling it quits before they got even more lost than they already were. But all he had to do was glance at Yuri, whose eyes were as determined and fiery as ever, and he dismissed the idea immediately. 

 

Finally, a road appeared in front of them. The guide breathed an audible sigh of relief, and Otabek, who had several random plants clinging to his clothes at this point, heartily agreed. They’d barely clambered onto the path, all horribly disheveled, before spotting someone approaching. The cat made a joyful sound and ran up to them- Yuri dashed after it, leaving both Otabek and the guide to follow. 

 

The figure turned out to be an old, thin woman with brown hair pulled neatly into a bun. She had a strict air to her, one that commanded authority and respect. This was a person who would listen to all of your excuses and stop them with a raised eyebrow. Her eyes, however, only strayed to the cat once until she saw Yuri, with an expression that was nothing less than complete astonishment. “ _ Yuri _ ?”

 

Yuri’s face mirrored her own. “Lilia?”

 

“What are  _ you _ doing here?” They both said at the same time, with varying amounts of shock. 

 

“Do you two know each other?” Otabek said, then cursed at the redundancy. Fortunately or not, neither of the two seemed to hear. They kept staring at each other, mouths agape, as if the other had sprouted three heads. This went on for quite a while, and the cat sat itself between them, purring. Its job had been done. 

 

Lilia gathered herself first, straightening up with such an air of authority that Otabek was reminded of the nobles that gathered in the palace back home. He had half a mind to drop on one knee and call her “Your Highness”. She was just that impressive. “Aren’t you supposed to be at home? What are you doing here?”

 

“Ah yes, uh,” Yuri said, “I got into a bit of trouble.”

 

“Hmmm.” Though Otabek wasn’t the one under the scrutiny, he still felt himself shuffling awkwardly. Yuri did a much better job of weathering her look than he would have, only looking slightly guilty. Thankfully, Lilia seemed to accept this explanation and did not press the issue. “Now that I’m not surprised about. Though I would have pegged Vitya as bigger troublemaker. I suppose it was unavoidable, in your young age.”

 

“Um,” said Yuri. The fae looked both flattered and offended at once. 

 

“Nonetheless,” Lilia continued, as if Yuri hadn’t said anything at all. “I must say I am quite disappointed in you, Yura. I had hoped for better.”

 

Yuri wilted, wincing, and Otabek hurried to defend him. “It wasn’t his fault.”

 

“What? No!” Why did Yuri look so incredulous at that? Otabek was baffled, but Lilia just watched him with a cool, calculating gaze. Then, to his surprise, her lips curved into a smile. 

 

“Oh, I have no doubt it was his fault,” Lilia said, in a tone that was almost cheerful. “Just like I have no doubt that whatever it was, he did not deserve whatever happened afterwards.”

 

She turned her gaze to Yuri. “But since we can’t change the past, all we have left to do is adapt. My house isn’t too far away, and there’s a huge library inside it. I’m sure that whatever foolhardy adventure you’ve gotten yourself stuck in, there’ll be something in my books that helps.”

 

“Thank you,” said Yuri, and Otabek echoed his words. He edited his initial impression of Lilia- under that cold and imperious demeanor, maybe there was more warmth than he’d originally thought. 

 

“And you,” She said, facing the guide at last, “Can stay here.”

 

“Will do,” said the guide, who did not seem offended at all. In fact, he sounded a little relieved, “You guys can get back on your own, right?”

 

“Of course they can, they’re not pathetic,” Lilia huffed, as Otabek racked his brain for the memory of the paths they’d taken. He hoped Lilia couldn’t read minds. He watched the guide grin nervously and wish both of them goodbye before turning away. Lilia looked bored through the whole process. “Very well, now let’s go.”

 

She turned on her heel and walked away, Yuri immediately following her. Otabek stumbled a little, caught off guard by the sudden movement, before hurrying to follow. Still, it took considerably more effort than he expected to keep pace. Otabek felt like his legs were going to burn soon, and considering how much you had to work out to become a knight, that was either impressive on her part or pathetic on his. Considering the cat seemed fine, he figured it was his. 

 

“How do you know her?” Despite the fact that Lilia was out of earshot, Otabek felt oddly nervous as he whispered his question to Yuri. 

 

The fae leaned towards him, breath tickling Otabek’s ear as he followed his lead, his voice low. “She’s my… how do I put this? Friend’s tutor’s ex-wife who also happens to be a sorceress.”

 

Otabek just nodded faintly, then pulled away. “Okay.”

 

Yuri blinked. “Okay?”

 

“I think that after a certain amount of weirdness, your brain just shuts down to avoid exploding.” 

 

“Ah,” Yuri said. “Understandable.”

 

“Are you coming in or not?” Lilia snapped, twice as ahead of them than she’d been when he’d last checked, and they hurried to follow. 

 

Lilia brought them to another part of town, one with neatly paved roads and houses with smooth wood porches. They stopped in front of a fine looking house, not much larger than the others, but one that seemed slightly… older. Otabek felt a tingle go up his spine as he stepped over the threshold, a feeling that only grew as he went closer and closer inside. 

 

Lilia didn’t wait for them at the door, leaving them to open it for themselves. It was solid, made out of firm oak and (he noticed Yuri wince away from them) iron hinges. He stiffened for a second, suspicious, but Yuri didn’t mention it so neither did he. He resolved to stay cautious, however.

 

Beyond the door lay a hallway, lit with candelabras and smelling heavily of incense. They continued along it for quite a while, almost running to keep up with Lilia’s brisk, long steps, but finally she stopped, and so did they. 

 

“Here we are,” She declared, procuring a key seemingly out of thin air. Twisting it into a lock on the door, she pushed the door open in one smooth motion, without even the slightest noise of hinges creaking. They stepped inside. 

 

Otabek gaped when he entered. There were shelves upon shelves of books, each with thick, skin-bound covers. The smell of old ink and a lingering feeling that Otabek had come to know as magic whispered from every corner of the room. 

 

As Otabek watched, Yuri ran his hands over a bookshelf, observing the works with more interest than he’d have thought the fae would have. Not that he blamed him- Otabek had no talent in magic, but even he could tell there was something supernatural about the way the titles glinted, and the strange, pulsing feeling through the room, as if the books beckoned for you to touch them. 

 

It was strange. Until now, Otabek’s only dealings with magic-wielding creatures had been the fae. He’d never met a sorceress before. Sirens and trolls and all the other things he’d seen on his Quest didn’t have the ability to cast spells the way they did, or have magic that weighed on you this heavily. Most predominantly, Lilia’s library did not contain the light, herby undertones underlying in most fae spells. He missed the zest of it, all fruity and fresh and in Yuri’s case, with a sharpness like lightning, coming from a creature of the forest- this was a heavier, lingering feeling, a thick musk that reminded you of ancient temples and fine wine. Was this sorceress magic? 

 

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he missed Lilia slowly approaching him, but when he looked up, his heart skipped a beat. Otabek scanned the room for Yuri, but he had disappeared, presumably off to some corner of the library. 

 

“Hello,” he said, because he couldn’t think of anything else to say. 

 

“Hello,” Lilia echoed his words like she knew what he was thinking, and distantly, Otabek’s brain raged about how it wasn’t fair because even he didn’t know what he was thinking. She tilted her head and her lips pursed. “You’re Yuri’s friend.”

 

“Yes,” Otabek said, though  _ friend _ seemed like an unimpressive word to describe all they’d been through.

 

“Hmmm.” It was hard not to shift under her piercing stare, and Otabek had to use all his willpower to keep still. Finally, Lilia looked away. “I’m not going to ask what happened. Like I said, nothing can be changed at this point, and it’s not my place to know.”

 

“Okay,” He didn’t know where this was going. 

 

“And I’m not going to interrogate you about your intentions, because that’s none of my business either.”

 

“Okay,” said Otabek, who felt slightly interrogated anyways. 

 

“But,” Lilia continued like she hadn’t heard him. “I am going to talk to you about Yuri. Although I cut off my closest tie with the fae a long time ago, I was… amiable with his family before I left, and I know Yuri. He’s never had many friends, much less reliable ones. So if you hurt him…”

 

She let the sentence dangle, and Otabek felt that ancient, heavy feeling again, like smoke was surging up to suffocate him. It tensed around his body and then dissipated, floating off into vapour. Despite himself, he almost had to smile- Lilia was definitely more caring than she let on. And Otabek couldn’t begrudge her for wanting the best for Yuri. 

 

“I swear I will,” Otabek said, and for the first time, Lilia’s mouth curved upwards into a small smile. 

 

And then suddenly, there was a thundering crash. 

 

He and Lilia jumped at the same time, himself more than Lilia. Despite her shouts that there was no running in the library, Otabek took off towards the sound, his mind conjuring up a dozen different situations that could have gone wrong. 

 

But when he finally got there, Otabek didn’t see a flesh-eating monster or anything of the sort. Instead, he stood gaping at the piles of books that were scattered everywhere, some lying facedown, some bending in ways books were definitely not meant to be bent. In the middle of the mess was Yuri, who had probably been levitating said books until he’d somehow dropped them. The fae looked pale as a ghost and was sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring at an open book with wide eyes. His right hand hovered a few inches over it, and it was trembling. As Otabek watched, Yuri lowered his finger and pressed it against the page, where scribbles had been written in the margins of the text. 

 

“This book,” said Yuri. “These notes, they’re- they’re in my grandfather’s handwriting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen- writing Otabek? Hard. Writing Otabek having a crisis? Much harder. Writing Lilia at all? Extreme Death. I still don't like my characterization of her, but here we go.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuri had been having a good day, which was a rarity in itself. It also might not have been saying much, considering what some of his days had been like, but Yuri was sure that even if he’d been having a good time this one be particularly nice. 
> 
> Because after a whole series of shitty events, he was finally getting a break. They’d been staying at the inn for a few days, and he already felt like it was home- with the comfy beds, warm food, and the smiles of all that lived there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy holidays!! Take this as an early Christmas gift, for those of you who celebrate it. For those who don't, take it as a personal one. :)

Yuri had been having a good day, which was a rarity in itself. It also might not have been saying much, considering what some of his days had been like, but Yuri was sure that even if he’d been having a good time this one be particularly nice. 

 

Because after a whole series of shitty events, he was finally getting a break. They’d been staying at the inn for a few days, and he already felt like it was home- with the comfy beds, warm food, and the smiles of all that lived there. 

 

At first, Yuri hadn’t been sure the town would be as good as it looked on the surface. And while there was the odd grump here and there, the majority of the citizens were well-meaning, generous people. He’d been relieved when nothing bad had happened. Well, nothing too bad. But did meeting Lilia count as bad, really?

 

To say he was startled by her appearance was a gross understatement. Of all people he expected to encounter on this Quest, Lilia was not one of them. Yuri had barely seen her when she’d been married to Yakov, but the woman was nothing if not memorable. He’d been a little panicked when Puma Tiger Scorpion had led him to her, thinking that she might be furious at him for being friends with Yakov’s disciple, Victor. 

 

He’d scolded himself for it afterwards. Lilia wasn’t so unreasonable that she’d hate him for having a minor connection to her ex-husband. He could still hear them shouting, one angry and the other pleading, and the slam of a door as she’d walked out. Victor always said that Yakov had never been the same, but Yuri had been so young he couldn’t tell. 

 

Now, Yuri was in her library (the library that she’d been kind enough to tell him about) and magic danced everywhere around him. At first glance all had seemed normal, but if he concentrated hard enough, Yuri could see purple wisps flowing out of books, swirling around each other before rising to the ceiling. The voices of different books called out to him, some speaking in languages he didn’t understand. He did his best to tune those out- he’d always been told not to trust books that could speak. 

 

“It’s because they love attention,” Victor had said, in an awfully judgemental voice. “And if a book wants attention it’s because they don’t have enough of it, meaning they’re bad news.”

 

“So like you,” Yuri had offered, and that had been the end of that conversation. 

 

The library was large, too. There were shelves upon shelves upon shelves of books, all in neat rows, and they seemed to go on for ages. If he’d been human, Yuri was sure that it’d take him years to find a specific book in this place. As it was, he could simply use a spell. 

 

Closing his eyes, he sent out gentle flutterings of magic, willing them to pull him in the right direction. Almost immediately he felt a tug in his stomach, an urging feeling, pulling towards the path he should take. He followed it, weaving in and out of the many hallways between the bookshelves, always careful (you never knew, in a sorceress’ library) and always aware of his senses. They led him deeper, deeper, to a small, unassuming corner way down back, identical to all the others. His senses immediately started to go off, sparks flashing as he gazed at the books before him.

 

Yuri rose on tiptoe and gazed at the titles, frowning. They didn’t seem to be organized by alphabetical order, or the author’s last name, or even by topic. Yet they were all placed neatly, like Lilia had had her reasons for putting them there. There probably  _ was  _ a reason, though Yuri had a suspicion it had something to do with sorceress things and he didn’t want to go back and ask, anyways. 

 

Funny. His spell should have led him to a specific one, but he couldn’t seem to narrow it down. Try as he might, the pull seemed to extend to all and none of the books. It was frustrating. 

 

Irritated, Yuri spelled a book off of the shelf. As soon as it was in his hands he knew it was wrong (in ways other than reading the  _ Study Of Studying _ title). He sent it back, but the next one was wrong, too. He tried again. And again. And again. He was never good at this sort of precision, which Victor liked to tease him about. Raw power, yes, destruction, absolutely, but fine technique… ugh. It didn’t help that Lilia’s magic, although slightly familiar, kept messing with his senses. Probably some sort of defense magic Lilia had on her books (knowledge was power and all that) but it wasn’t any less annoying. Still, he couldn’t break it, so he’d have to adapt…

 

Snapping his fingers, Yuri commanded all the books to fly off the shelves. He dismissed the ones that were obviously unimportant (he sincerely doubted he’d ever have to know how to make a car out of flowers) and kept anything that could possibly mention dragons.  _ Magic Creatures, Flora and Fauna of the Mystical Wilderness, The Art of Taming Beasts…  _

 

He flipped through the pages of  _ Flora and Fauna _ , each one more disappointing than the last. There were articles on poisonous roots and trees with singing leaves, but the majority of the creatures mentioned were harmless or annoyingly irrelevant. He didn’t need to know about tree nymphs, for fuck’s sake. Hell, who did?

 

Yuri searched through a bunch of other books to no avail. He’d just dropped the latest volume (nothing useful, damn it) when another one caught his eye. It was old, that he could tell, but that’s not what stood out to him. The title read  _ Creatures of Magic,  _ in thin, looping letters, and below it, the image of a dragon was printed on the cover. 

 

Yuri’s heart quickened and he flipped it open, hopes already rising.  _ If this doesn’t even mention dragons I’m burning it.  _

 

He flipped through the pages with an air of finely wrought suspense. Words flashed before his eyes, and he kept his eyes out for telltale images -a word, a phrase, an image with wings-

 

There it was. Dragons, written in finely labeled print, down on the page. The image was of a thick headed creature, a dark, scaled body with sharp talons. Its head was open to the sky, each tooth distinctly shaded, with fire shooting out of its mouth. 

 

But what stood out to Yuri most was not the pictures or even the texts, but the odd scribbles at the side of the page. He looked at them, confused, and flipped back several pages -but no, it was like he’d guessed, none of the others had handwriting on them. Yuri felt uncomfortable, though he didn’t know why. The writing looked familiar, oddly so, and Yuri’s eyes narrowed as he scanned it from different angles, nothing that the language was Old Faerian, well that was funny, no one used it anymore-

 

And then it hit him. The messy font, the dots on the letters being slightly to the right, the thin, tightly packed spacing….

 

There was a crash as all the books he’d been levitating came down at once, hitting the floors and sending up clouds of dust. Yuri didn’t care. He stared at the book in his hand like it was the most important thing in the world. His knuckles were deathly pale, his hands shaking. 

 

This couldn’t be. This couldn’t.

 

But another voice interrupted just as quickly, it’s tone sure and steady.  _ It is.  _

 

His grandfather…?

 

Before he could think about it too long, a sound snapped him out of his daze. Otabek stood in the hallway, looking harried, as if he’d rushed here as fast as he possibly could. His eyes flickered to Yuri, wide and concerned. They then traveled to the mess around him, and Yuri’s mind finally started to work again, struggling to make him explain. 

 

“This book,” He said, and his voice sounded distant even to him. “These notes, they’re- they’re in my grandfather’s handwriting.”

 

There was a moment of silence, save for Yuri’s strangled breathing. 

 

“I see,” Otabek said. And then- “Does Lilia know?”

 

Lilia. That’s right. Actually, it wasn’t- Yuri couldn’t seem to think straight, so he tried again, tried to grasp onto Otabek’s train of thought. Lilia. The sorceress. The owner of this library. Had she… had the owner of this book known his grandfather’s notes lay in it? Wouldn’t she have warned him if she had known? It was possible that she’d forgotten, although Yuri suspected it was more likely his grandfather had borrowed her book on whim, and never informed her out of concern for his own health. Before he died, Nikolai Plisetsky had had a tendency to be forgetful that was only amplified by his growing age, and if his brief memories of Lilia were anything to go by, the sorceress didn’t like people meddling with her things. 

 

Now that he’d come to this conclusion, Yuri’s heart seemed to calm its restless beating. His hands unclenched, and fallen books flew up once again, rearranging them in nice little piles on the floors. It seemed so obvious, now that he had the idea. That was probably what had happened. Maybe Nikolai had visited the library again and quietly returned it, or owned the book and gifted it to Lilia. 

 

“Possibly, though I’m not sure,” He told Otabek. The knight nodded, and didn’t press further. 

 

“Can I see the notes after you’re done with them?”

 

“Sure,” Yuri said, only pausing for a brief moment. Otabek nodded again, and made to leave, before he was struck with an idea. “Hey, actually, why don’t we just read them together? It’ll save time this way.”

 

“Alright,” Otabek agreed, and Yuri shuffled to give him some space. The knight knelt down, awkwardly settling into a seated position beside him, as Yuri fingered the pages with delicate care. But when he looked down at the text again, even without reading the notes, the sight of them was enough to make his stomach lurch. 

 

“What do they say?” Otabek asked, when he saw Yuri wasn’t going to speak on his own. 

 

“I,” Yuri said. “I haven’t read them yet.”

 

The words sounded silly in his mouth, now that they’d been spoken. The second they were in the air, he wanted to reach out and stuff them back. But there was no doing that, now. 

 

“Hm,” is Otabek’s reply. “What language is it in?” 

 

“Old Faerian.” Yuri smiled at Otabek’s confused look. “It’s a dialect from a long, long time ago. I’m too young to have lived when it was spoken, but I’ve had lessons.”

 

Lessons as in, his grandfather and Yakov insisted that he had to learn- the latter one more aggressively, of course, but both had been surprisingly stubborn about it. Through classes as a child Yuri had managed to attain the basic grasps of the language, and reinforced them later on even when Yakov had left and his grandfather had died. Victor, although fluent in the language, was often too flighty to teach him properly, but (and Yuri would never admit it) Katsuki was a pretty good instructor. Still, as the silence dragged on, Yuri was starting to regret allowing Otabek to read with him, and perhaps the knight sensed this, because he said, “Are you okay? If you want privacy, I’ll leave.”

 

Oddly enough, those words were what settled him. 

 

“No, it’s fine,” Yuri said. “Just give me a moment.”

 

“Okay,” Otabek said. He had to good graces to look away, focusing on a spot on the bookshelf opposite. Yuri looked at him a moment before tearing his gaze away, reminding himself to focus on the task at hand. 

 

Slowly, almost reverently, Yuri ran his fingers over the leather-bound cover of the title, feeling the worn fabric under his hands as his mind swarmed. He took deep breaths, the first few coming out strangled but easing out later on. Finally, when his mind had settled as much as it ever would, Yuri turned the book over again and began to read the text, resolving to save his grandfather’s notes for later. He wanted them to be the last thing he saw. His eyes were practically flying over every word as he devoured the information. 

 

_ Dragons, _ it said.  _ Dragons are creatures of ash and obsidian, forged out of the remnants of volcanoes. Little is known about them other than the fact that they breathe fire, because very few people have survived encounters with one.  _

 

_ They are best known in the tales of early Quests, making off with princesses and being slain by knights. This, while a nice fantasy and certainly a good bedtime story, is not often true. The reality is that dragons are more ferocious than one can imagine, and it takes much more than a knight to take one down.  _

 

_ According to the modernized Creature Scale developed by Friedrich Helbourne V|, the dragon is a level XXX creature, one of the few of its kind. As well as its sharp claws and fire breathing abilities, a dragon also has unbreakable scales. The only spot of weakness on the dragon is its eyes, which lack the tough armour that encases the rest of its body. However, killing a dragon is not so simple as driving a spike through its eye. They are usually the size of castles, and are so long they can wrap around one of each turrets. Their primary diet consists of meat, though what type exactly is unspecified. They have large appetites, and the towns they terrorize often run out of sheep and wolves alike when a dragon decides to hunt. However, they do not live in towns, but on mountains where they hoard the lairs. There are rumours of dragons liking to collect treasure, though whether or not this is true has yet to be determined by experts, for the same reason there is a lack of information on these species.  _

 

_ This dangerous appeal has made the dragon one of the most targeted creatures throughout history, as people seeking fame or fortune have deemed the reward greater than the risk. However, the practice of dragon hunting being common ended around eight centuries ago, when one of said creatures got so irritated by the attempts it decided to obliterate an entire city. After that, people started taking the threat more seriously.  _

 

_ And while a new challenger braves their fears and takes action every so often, it usually doesn’t happen. For a universal truth has been established in our society: whatever species you may be, the general tactic to deal with a dragon is to run, and to avoid being killed by not being near it at all.  _

 

He flipped the page, but the topic randomly switched to trolls. He felt Otabek shift beside him, and Yuri went back to look at the scribbled notes on the margins, which he’d left for last. There were several, sometimes crammed near a specific line, other times paragraphs would pass without a single word. Beside  _ they breathed fire  _ were the words  _ opposite- water??? Lake? How to find- look at map _ , and there were clustered scribbles near the section describing the dragon’s weapons. Yuri had to squint his eyes to see them, and even then they weren’t so clear. 

 

_ Shields- metals, NOT iron _

 

_ XXX vs XX, outclassed, dead end _

 

_ Aim for eye (sword? spell?) find dragon height _

 

_ Find wingspan, find flight speed _

 

And that was all he could read. The other words were bunched up as his grandfather had slipped into cursive, words becoming intelligible, as if Nikolai had just stabbed the paper with his quill and drawn a bunch of looping lines. Hand shaking, Yuri pressed his fingers to the edge of a word, and slowly traced its shape. His eyes began to sting, and he had to blink to keep the tears away. 

 

_ Deep breaths, Yuri.  _

 

He coughed, and it came out rattled. It was time to think. He quickly skimmed passed the part about shields and the confusing things like looked like rankings (?), to focus on the note after it. 

 

“The eyes of a dragon are its only weakness,” Yuri murmured thoughtfully. He heard Otabek turn slightly at his words, but his mind was whirring to quickly to focus on that. “That means…”

 

That meant that it was their best chance of killing the creature. Which, frankly, was disappointing, especially when you considered how close you’d have to be to hit its eye. Unless, of course, he cast a spell, but....

 

Yuri looked at the dark-winged dragon on the page, and tried to imagine those blood red eyes swerving to face him if he attacked and missed. Imagined the teeth bared, mouth pulled open in a snarl. He shuddered. This was getting less pleasant by the second. But it was the best option, wasn’t it?

 

Well, maybe not, Yuri thought, as his eyes flicked up to the point about water. He scanned it, wondering if it could be of use. The notes implied… his grandfather’s reasoning seemed to be if a dragon breathed fire, then… then water would be able to render that useless. But if Otabek and this book were accurate, dragons lived on top of mountains. Where could you find a large body of water at the top of a mountain? You couldn't even lug that much water up, not even if you were a fae and a knight. And there were still the talons to deal with. That was a dead end. Yuri slammed the book closed, feeling frustrated. There was practically nothing. This was useless. 

 

(No wonder his grandfather had died.)

 

Yuri shook his head, angry, but the thought lingered still. To think, that his grandfather had been in this room, in this library, perhaps even in this corner and held the book that Yuri was now holding in his hands. Had the knight been with him? Had they traveled on the same path? What could his grandfather had been thinking? Had he missed him? 

 

Beneath Yuri, the carpet started to smoke as magic poured off of his in furious waves. He was sure only Lilia’s defensive magic kept something from going off. It coiled around him now, giving a tight squeeze as if to warn him before gliding away. Yuri tried to breathe. 

 

Otabek hadn't said anything, which he was thankful for. He didn’t know how to react, and he didn’t know what he would say if Otabek asked him anything about the notes. Which was terrible, he knew, because he’d promised to share them but what they said and what he wanted them to say were two completely different things-

 

(But what did he think would happen? That they would say, _ hello Yuri, I’m on a Quest but I still miss you _ ? That the notes would promise everything would be okay?)

 

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt a hand on his arm, the touch warm and familiar. He looked up, and saw Otabek handing him another book, one that he'd picked up out of Yuri's forgotten pile. 

 

"How about this one?" The knight said. The title he was holding said  _ Scaled Creatures 101 _ . 

 

"Let's give it a try," Yuri said after a pause. He smiled, the action a little easier than he'd thought it’d be, and accepted the book gladly. 

 

The next day, as dawn crept through the night with its pale gold rays, the guide came to their hotel to help them reach the edge of the mountain.

 

Otabek was leading their horses out of the stables when he came downstairs, dressed in new riding gear. Yuri had overslept (a great way to start the day, truly) and finished eating later than the others, and as he rushed outside he was startled to find someone waiting for him. 

 

“Lilia,” He said, for the second time in two days. Because there she was, wearing the purple and fur dress that he vaguely remembered from his youth, arms crossed and lips pursed with distaste. 

 

“I came to give you this,” Lilia said, cutting straight to the chase with her words. She drew an object from her robes before handing it over. 

 

Yuri took it from her and stared. It was a locket, gold in colour and with an appearance that suggested old age. It was heavy in his hand. Not just physically, but on a spiritual level. Power radiated from the locket despite its frail looking structure. Yuri feels a little scared to turn it around in his hand, but carefully, he did. 

 

There were engravings in the middle in some language he doesn’t recognize, surrounding the image of four diamonds interlinked together. He traced the words and winced as his hair stood on edge -there was magic in that, all right. It zipped through him like lightning would and made him shudder involuntarily. 

 

“It was a gift,” Lilia said, when she saw Yuri look at her. “The locket, that is. The magic in there is mine. Don’t fret- it won’t break open unless you want it to. If you do, then this will give you a sudden burst of strength- momentarily, of course, and only once. So use it wisely.”

 

Yuri stared down at his palm. In the sunlight, the locket shone as gold as his hair, and was still warm to touch despite it being oddly windy out. He pocketed it and said, “Thank you, Lilia.”

 

“No need,” Lilia said. “Don’t be stupid.”

 

Don’t be stupid. Not _ good luck  _ or even  _ come back alive _ , but he knew it was sappy for her. Yuri smiled at her, as dazzling as the stars in the night sky, and turned away. It was time to leave.

 

Otabek and their guide were waiting for them at the bottom of the road. He ignored the lurch in his stomach as he took the reins of his horse -a pretty white mare, who the guide said was called Frost, and (after a pause when he realized he  _ still _ didn’t know how to mount the animal) flew back on. The gesture made the guide raise an eyebrow, but Otabek just laughed. Yuri smiled, amazed at how familiar this position was even after such a long time. Yet something felt off when he stared at Otabek that he couldn’t put his finger on. What was it?

 

Suddenly, it hit him. Otabek was riding on top of a chestnut coloured mare, while Yuri was on Frost. This would be their first time riding on different horses- that was it! The thought made him a little sad, but he shook it off. Once they reached the mountain, it would be their first times for a lot of things anyways, so might as well get used to it. He’d asked Otabek if he’d ever climbed a mountain on a Quest before, and Otabek had told him no. Questing like this, on land and from village to village was all he’d ever done. He’d sailed once, apparently, but never wanted to do it again because of how badly he got seasick. That must have sucked, Yuri said. It was fine, said Otabek. He was being especially blunt today. 

 

Yuri would have brushed it off as early morning drowsiness, only it didn’t let up for the whole day. Otabek’s replies gradually grew shorter and shorter, until he was only nodding at certain intervals, and Yuri was sure he wasn’t listening to a word he said. The fae shrugged it off. So the knight didn’t want to talk- that was fine, everyone was like that sometimes. He started up conversation with the guide instead. 

 

A mellow line of conversation filled the time riding. Occasionally they would stop to take a break and drink water, and Otabek would snap out of his daze to say a thing or two. Yuri eyed him when he wasn’t looking, trying to see what was wrong. Was he nervous? Could that be it? Yuri tried not to think about fear, because that would only make him more anxious about the things to come. Right now he felt oddly fine, as if the fear was making him giddy and that’s why he was talking and laughing so much. Katsuki got quiet when he was nervous, too, so maybe Otabek was like that- but better than Yuuri was, obviously. 

 

Finally, the mountain began moving into their sight. Yuri had gasped when he’d first seen it, and the sight made even Otabek straighten in his seat. The sight of this misty triangle shape in the distance was only exciting for a few moments, however, and eventually Yuri just slumped back and let his mind drift. 

 

But then it crept close, and Yuri was free to stare at it- and stare he did. Yuri’s gaze roamed its shape, its grey, jagged peaks topped with white snow. It strained his neck to look up at it- the tip seemed to extend beyond the clouds and pierce the very sky, so high was the structure. But they were here at last, which was something. It had taken them weeks to get to this point, with many struggles in between, so Yuri allowed himself a bit of relief to know he’d made it this far. 

 

(It hit him then, how close they were to the dragon.)

 

Before, arriving here had seemed like a distant goal. Now, it was- it was- Yuri couldn’t believe his eyes. It was imminent, climbing this giant structure. And on top, a monster was waiting. His stomach churned. 

 

"We'll have to leave you here," The guide told them. Yuri was confused about who 'we' was until the guide reached for the reins of their horses. Turns out they couldn't continue. 

 

Yuri felt a pang of disappointment. He'd grown to like his horse after all they'd been through together. Still, he swung himself down, and gave the girl one last goodbye pat before giving over the reins. 

 

"Thanks for everything," he said. Otabek echoed his words. 

 

“No problem,” The guide laughed. “It was my pleasure.”

 

He turned the horses around and helped unload the things Otabek and Yuri would be taking. At last, when they were done, their guide (now their former guide) bade them good luck and galloped away. Otabek and him waved goodbye until they couldn’t see him anymore. Yuri felt another pang in his stomach as he watched them go. Yet another thing to miss. 

 

He became aware of someone’s eyes on him, and turned to look at Otabek. Otabek looked at him. Lost in the knight’s comforting gaze, a silent message passed through them- they may not have horses or their guide anymore, but they were far from alone. They were together, and that counted for something. 

 

Moving as one, both of them started to climb. 

 

Yuri took a step. Then another, and another still. He was struck by the sudden but certain thought that his feet were going to ache after all this climbing. Yuri turned, intending to make a joke about this to Otabek, only to find that the knight had already forged ahead. Yuri hurried to follow. 

 

“So…” He said, after catching up. The knight seemed oddly silent again, and Yuri’s worry flared up once more. “How are you, uh, doing?” 

 

“Fine,” said Otabek shortly, not even bothering to turn. Yuri glanced at him, trying to catch a glimpse of his face, and frowning when he caught sight of something he didn’t see before. 

 

“Are you okay? Those are some pretty big eyebags you’ve got there.”

 

Otabek nearly raised a hand to his eye, as if attempting to cover it up, but jerked it down almost as quickly. “I’m fine-”

 

He stumbled, eyes wide with surprise as Yuri’s elbow dug into his shoulder. Yuri just crossed his arms at his friend’s indignant expression, not at all impressed. 

 

“Oh c’mon, we both know that’s bullshit. I would’ve thought that after we’ve come all this way together-”

 

Otabek turned to look behind them, where a very unimpressive distance lay below. You could still see the spot where they’d stood to wave their guide off, and if you looked very closely, the tracks left by the horses were still visible. Yuri rolled his eyes at him-  _ haha, funny, you know what I’m talking about.  _

 

“I don’t want to make you tell me anything, but let’s just be honest for once, alright?” Yuri made a thumbs up gesture, then flipped it so he was now pointing down. “Are you okay or no?”

 

Otabek took a deep breath, like he was going to deny it, then sighed. His shoulders slumped and his whole body curved downwards, like he was suddenly very tired. He looked absolutely fucking exhausted. “It’s just- I didn’t sleep well today.”

 

“Oh,” Yuri said. A memory wiggled itself to the forefront of his brain. “Nightmares?”

 

“Yes.” Otabek closed his eyes. “They keep coming back. And I keep waking up at random times in the morning.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Yuri paused a bit, to see if Otabek would elaborate, but continued when it became clear he wouldn’t. That was fine, Otabek could tell him if he wanted to. “So is there, you know, something you’re doing to stop them?”

 

“Not really. I’m just trying to ignore them.” 

 

Yuri personally felt like that wasn’t working so well, but he didn’t want to push too far and end up annoying Otabek. He’d almost resolved to let it rest and just bring it up again later, when something made him stop dead in his tracks. 

 

“I am so fucking stupid,” Yuri said to no one in particular. 

 

“What? No, you’re not,” Otabek looked comically offended, staring at Yuri with frowning eyes. Yuri fought the urge to smirk. 

 

“It’s okay, if what I’m thinking is right, so are you.”

 

“Am I?” Now Otabek sounded a little amused, with a bit of confusion creeping in. “This is a very sudden change of mood, you realize.”

 

“I do. I also realize, now, like a complete fool, that I could just use magic to stop the dreams.”

 

There is a pause. It was a very awkward pause, full of the silent realization one makes when you realize you screwed up something very simple. 

 

But it was with Otabek’s “I am fucking stupid,” that broke the silence. It was the most resignation filled, tired voice full of _ I fucked up  _ undertones that Yuri promptly burst out laughing. Otabek looked betrayed. 

 

“To be fair, you only figured it out a bit before me!”

 

“And if I hadn’t told you?” It took a while for Yuri to get those words out, choking on laughter as he was, but when he did he was grinning. “Would you have ever figured it out otherwise? When we got to the top of the mountain, maybe?"

 

“Shut up,” Otabek said, but he too had begun to laugh. 

 

After a long while of them giggling like little kids, their laughter finally subsided enough for them to talk normally again. 

 

“Are you sure you can do it, though?” Otabek asked, much more seriously now that the initial giddiness had died out. 

 

“Would I have offered if it wasn’t?” Yuri retorted. Otabek raised his hands in apology, and then promptly put them down in exasperation when Yuri continued. “Well, I mean, actually, I haven’t done it before. But I’m pretty sure it should be possible and not life threatening. Probably.”

 

“Whelp, there goes my confidence.”

 

“No, I’m serious! I can do it, I’m sure.” Yuri strategically did not mention how he tended to blow things up when accidents occurred. 

 

Otabek stared at him a while longer, lips pursed in thought. Yuri could see him calculating things inside his head- how much he wanted to get a good night’s sleep for once versus how much he valued his safety. Finally, in a voice that did not sound like him, he said, “Fine.”

 

This time, it was Yuri’s turn to be dubious. “You sure? You don’t sound so sure.”

 

“I’m sure,” Otabek said again, more confident this time. He raised his chin, looking as upright and proud as any knight. “Positive. We can’t have me drifting off to sleep as we battle the dragon.”

 

“True,” Yuri said. “Alright then, sit down. This will work better if you stay still.”

 

If Otabek shuddered a little as he did so, Yuri took care not to mention it. “Alright, here goes nothing.”

 

To say he was a little nervous would be an underestimate. As Yuri raised both hands, placing them on either side of Otabek’s head, he wondered if he was making a very bad mistake and was only going to blow his companion’s head off. He shook his head. However scared he was right now, Otabek was probably more so. Yuri tried to imagine this was just practice, that Otabek was a wooden doll and his grandfather was beside him, guiding him through the procedure.  _ Yes, just like that, Yura.  _ His shoulders relaxed and magic thrummed through his body. A quick whisper of words and it was done. 

 

“Thank you,” Otabek said, his voice quiet. Yuri tried to shrug it off. 

 

“You’re welcome. Now let’s get going?”

 

“Yes, right,” Otabek said. No doubt their old schedule had just flashed through his brain. “We’ve wasted enough time already.”

 

Yuri reached a hand down, offering him a help to his feet. Gratefully, Otabek took it. He seemed less subdued than he’d been earlier, but definitely not as talkative as he’d been before. Though that was probably justified, Yuri thought, Otabek was smart enough to sense that Yuri’s magic had done something, but after who-knows-how-long of having them he wouldn’t believe they were gone so easily. Once he got a good night’s rest it would be over, though, Yuri was sure, so he dealt with it with an unusually large amount of tolerance. He even got to say his joke about the sore feet, which made Otabek laugh. 

 

By nighttime, they’d walked long enough that they could both stop without feeling antsy. Otabek unpacked their things and set up camp, while Yuri walked around what they’d established was a good perimeter, casting safety and concealing spells to keep others away. 

 

Then they ate dinner, a little something the innkeeper’s wife had given them before they set off, and decided to call it a night. Yuri lay down on his cot, already feeling tired, the weight of the day getting to him. He yawned, checking Lilia’s pendant was still on him, and before he knew it he’d drifted off to sleep. 

 

When he woke up again, it was still dark outside. There was a loud noise, coming from closer than it should have. Yuri stared at the sky, black as pitch, with tired eyes and a foggy brain before he comprehended what was happening. Even then it came with a fresh wave of disbelief, as Yuri’s mind fought what his heart knew to be the truth. 

 

_ No,  _ he thought.  _ Not possible, no. I cast the spell, I saw it take hold- _

 

But there it was, the sound undeniable and clear. Otabek was screaming. 

 

(Nightmare.)

 

What was going on?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going on vacation tomorrow, and I'll be away for a week (not that I update every week, anyways). I will try to use the winter break to write faster, though if you count on that at this point you don't know me well enough to realize that I will probably still take a while. The only thing I can say to make up for it is that I have basically the whole thing planned out at this point, and I will definitely finish.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuri remembered, with distinct clarity, the first time he ever had a nightmare. 
> 
> Well technically, it wasn’t the first. He didn’t know the exact amount of nightmares he had before it, but he knew that in the grand scheme of things they hadn’t mattered. They had been silly fears, worries that’d been easily soothed with a steady arm around him and his grandfather’s whispers in his ear. 
> 
> But that dream was the first nightmare that actually stuck with him, even so long after it happened. It was the first one that chilled Yuri to his bones and made him wake up in cold sweat, gripping his sheets with white knuckles. It made him shake and shiver and refuse to go back to bed, despite how tired he’d been. 
> 
> It was the night after Victor had told him his grandfather was dead, the first one he’d spent knowing Nikolai Plisetsky was gone. It had been the worst night of denial and grief he’d ever had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is overdue. Warning: Very hastily edited because GRAMMARLY WOULDN'T WORK.

Yuri remembered, with distinct clarity, the first time he ever had a nightmare. 

 

Well technically, it wasn’t the first. He didn’t know the exact amount of nightmares he had before it, but he knew that in the grand scheme of things they hadn’t mattered. They had been silly fears, worries that’d been easily soothed with a steady arm around him and his grandfather’s whispers in his ear. 

 

But that dream was the first nightmare that actually stuck with him, even so long after it happened. It was the first one that chilled Yuri to his bones and made him wake up in cold sweat, gripping his sheets with white knuckles. It made him shake and shiver and refuse to go back to bed, despite how tired he’d been. 

 

It was the night after Victor had told him his grandfather was dead, the first one he’d spent knowing Nikolai Plisetsky was gone. It had been the worst night of denial and grief he’d ever had. 

 

That’s what Otabek sounded like he was facing right now, as he screamed and clawed and kicked at his blankets- something he didn’t want to see. His worst nightmare. 

 

“Otabek,” Yuri said, hurrying over as fast as he could. Otabek kept shaking in his blankets, sweat gleamed visibly on his brow. Yuri was scared that he’d punch him if he woke him up, so he leaned over and shook him gently. “Hey- Otabek-”

 

He still didn’t wake, and Yuri was getting worried, so he decided to screw caution to hell and shove the guy. 

 

In hindsight, that was probably not the best idea. 

 

Before Yuri could blink, he was on his back and _ pain pain pain _ was shooting through his head. 

 

“Fuck,” He swore. He heard the sound of shifting blankets stop. “Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck-”

 

Yuri reached out with one hand to cradle his forehead, pretty sure a bruise was already forming. If the punch had gone any lower he’d have broken his nose. The shuffling noise resumed, and he became aware of a presence beside him. 

 

“What’s going on? What’s happening?” Otabek’s voice, slurred with sleep, sent another burst of pain shooting through his head. 

 

“You tell me,” Yuri said. And then, “Fuck.”

 

He tried to get up again, but gave up fairly quickly and lay back down. It was comfier lying down. The ground was cool, and he turned to rest his forehead on it. It helped lessen the pain a little.  

 

There was more shuffling, and he heard Otabek pull himself upwards. The knight coughed, and the sound echoed in the silence. 

 

Otabek had seemed to have pulled himself up, and the fae would bet anything that he was gazing around them with cautious eyes. It was hard to see in the dark, but he was pretty sure that when his gaze fell on Yuri Otabek had frowned, brow crinkling with concern. “Are you okay?”

 

“I will be when I stop seeing double,” said Yuri. It was an exaggeration, all he was looking at was the earth- but that didn’t stop the knight from inhaling sharply. 

 

“Shit.” Otabek leaned over. In what dim light the moon cast down, Yuri could make out the knight’s shadowed face. He had a suspicion that the knight was still shaken from the nightmare, but didn’t show it. “What happened?” 

 

“You tell me,” Yuri said again. “I tried to wake you up and you  _ punched  _ me.”

 

Yet another sharp inhale. Yuri could all but see Otabek’s wince. “I didn’t mean to- that is- I think what happened was-”

 

He seemed to take a deep breath as Yuri waited for the knight to gather himself. It took quite a while. “I was…”

 

Yuri sat by and waited, trying to see if he could string a full sentence together. But Otabek kept hesitating, shadows falling across his face in a way that weren’t because of the dark. 

 

“Dreaming,” he said, finally. 

 

“Having a nightmare,” corrected Yuri. He saw Otabek flinch, sudden, like he hadn’t been expecting Yuri to call him out on it. What a fool. “You were practically clawing your way out of those blankets, and you expect me to believe it was a regular dream? Yeah right.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Otabek said. He really did sound like it. “I didn’t want to worry you.”

 

Huh. That was almost sweet, if not unhelpful. 

 

“I’d prefer honesty to good natured lies,” Yuri said. 

 

“I don’t know what happened,” Otabek said. 

 

“I don’t, either.”

 

There was a pause. 

 

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but,” Otabek’s voice was hesitant. Cautious. “You… you did cast the spell right? I didn’t dream it up?”

 

Yuri’s lips pursed. “No.”

 

“Then. Then why-”

 

“I don’t know,” he said. And that was the thing- he really didn’t know. He tried to remember where things could have gone wrong. “It should have.”

 

“Maybe,” Otabek said, hesitant, unsure- “Maybe the spell didn’t work?”

 

_ But I did it right.  _ “Maybe,” Yuri said unconvincingly. The memory flashed before him- the words, the touch, the rush of magic. Everything had seemed fine. Failproof. Where could he have possibly messed up? It didn’t seem real. He wouldn’t have believed it if concrete proof hadn’t been in front of him mere minutes ago. 

 

“Well thanks for trying, I guess,” The other man shrugged, or at least Yuri guessed he did, from the movement of his shadow. Otabek’s voice had a distinctly sad edge to it, and Yuri tried not to let the thought unsettle his stomach. He shifted awkwardly, but before he could say anything, Otabek was on the move. “I’ll just try and get as much sleep as I can, I guess.”

 

He turned to lie down, like this was it. Like that was all they could possibly do. 

 

Yuri opened his mouth. He didn’t know what he was going to say, only that suddenly he was frustrated, that this was the only thing to do to help his friend, like this was it and Otabek was going to go back, spine straight, and endure like a fucking fool for who knows how long-

 

“Lets have an honesty hour,” Yuri said. 

 

Otabek froze without looking back at him. Yuri didn’t need to see his face to know he was confused. “A what? Now?” 

 

“What better time to be brutally honest than in the middle of the night?” Yuri said, shrugging. “Besides, we can always walk extra fast in the morning. It’s not like we’ll be losing more sleep than if we left the problem and kept waking up like this.”

 

“Um,” Otabek said. 

 

“Great,” Yuri said. “Good to see you approve. I’ll go first- when I was seven, I snuck into my friends house-”

 

“Er,” Otabek said, like he was going to interrupt. “I-”

 

“-and cut off all their hair.”

 

There was the  _ click _ and  _ clack  _ of a mouth shutting and opening again. Otabek cleared his throat. “What?”

 

“I know, I was a cruel kid. But he was really annoying, and it always got into my face, and well, I was a kid. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

 

_ Click. Clack. Click. _ Yuri saw hands windmill in the darkness, and heard muffled laughter. Finally Otabek gathered his wits together and spoke. “And did he ever ...find out?”

 

“Nope. To this day he thinks he rolled onto a knife.” Yuri shrugged, and then because Otabek might not have seen he said, “He was kind of a dumb kid. Dramatic too. When he woke up and saw what happened he spent like, half an hour monologuing about how his life was over. He grew to like it, though.”

 

“Huh,” Otabek said, in the judging way people used when they tried to sound like they weren’t judging you. 

 

“I swear it only happened once,” Yuri said. “I’m not a serial hair cutter or anything.”

 

“I didn’t say you were,” Otabek said. 

 

“But you were thinking it,” Yuri’s lips curved upwards in a slow, pleased smile. For some reason, the thought of the knight’s irritation amused him, rather than annoyed like it would have mere weeks before. “Be honest. I may not be a serial hair cutter, but I can be kind of a dick.”

 

“You’re a lovable one,” Otabek said, and Yuri laughed. The sound echoed here, in the still silence. All the animals that were usually out and about had quieted, leaving nothing but the occasional owl. Yuri’s spells ruled out the possibility of other intruders and disturbances. They were very, truly alone. Yuri felt it, the knowledge like a weight deep in his bones. He wondered if Otabek felt it, too.

 

“So what now?” Otabek said, when the sound had stopped ringing. His voice was low, teasing. Yuri heard the sounds of someone shuffling closer, and imagined the look of interest on Otabek’s face. “Should I tell you something, just to balance the scales?”

 

“Go ahead,” He said, and Otabek took it as the challenge it was. 

 

“My childhood involves a lot less hair cutting, unfortunately,” He could see the barest edge of a smile. “But there were some moments that were eventful, too. I distinctly remember that once, when I was about five, I got it into my head that I needed a tree fort. But I didn’t know how to make one, and instead of asking somebody, like a reasonable person would have, I decided to, uh. Convince… one of the local boys to abdicate theirs.”

 

“By convince,” Yuri said, who was grinning already, “Did you manage to somehow steal someone else’s fort? Otabek, how could you!”

 

“I didn’t  _ steal the fort _ ,” Otabek protested, but his tone was amused. “I, uh. There might have been a white sheet involved and several traumatized children talking to their parents about ghosts that night, but I  _ won _ that fort, fair and square.”

 

“All’s fair in love and war,” Yuri said. “So the upright and just knight was secretly a troublemaker. Who knew?” 

 

Otabek laughed. Yuri saw movement, probably him waving off the words. “Not so much a troublemaker as just plain stupid. You won’t be seeing my plans going that way anytime soon.”

 

They both sat together for a while, giggling to themselves, at the other’s remarks and their own memories of childish stupidity. 

 

“So,” Otabek said, when they’d both recovered themselves a few moments later, “Any other stories to tell?”

 

“Hmmm,” Yuri said, thinking. He racked his brain, but only came up with- “Most of my childhood memories involve my grandfather.”

 

“Then tell me something with your grandfather in it,” Otabek suggested.

 

Yuri’s eyes widened, focusing on him. Even in the dark, it felt like their gazes were meeting, and it was so disconcerting that he couldn’t help but look away. 

 

“Well, uh,” Was the eloquent beginning, coming after moments of awkward silence and a cleared throat. “My grandfather, he- when I was about seven, there was this time where…”

 

As Yuri continued talking, recounting the story with many facial expressions and elaborate hand gestures despite the fact that Otabek couldn’t see them, his shyness trailed off and soon he was chattering enthusiastically about the incident that ended in several minor fires, one near fatal head injury and a severely traumatized squirrel. 

 

“Wow,” Otabek would say, whenever he took a pause. If it had been anyone else but him, Yuri would have found the reaction unenthusiastic, but he could tell the knight genuinely enjoyed the story. Sometimes he’d laugh, and Yuri’s breath would catch in his throat before he mustered up the strength to continue. 

 

Finally, finally, he was done, and smiling, the ghost of a laugh fading away from his lips. He felt buoyant and light, with warmth in his chest he’d begun to attribute to the way Otabek made him feel. 

 

“So,” said Yuri, once he’d composed himself. 

 

“So,” said the knight. 

 

They sat in silence for a while. In the end, Otabek was the one to break the silence. “I have a feeling you’re waiting for me to say something.” 

 

“Then say it, and we’ll see if it’s true.”

 

Another pause. Yuri could feel the knight weighing his options. 

 

“It’s hard to explain,” Otabek said. 

 

“Go ahead,” Yuri said. “Try.”

 

Otabek was silent for a long, long time. Yuri could hear the way his breath shuttered and shook, the deep inhales and slow exhales, like he was steeling himself to say something. 

 

“It’s about my sister,” Otabek said, finally. 

 

Yuri blinked. Before he could think, he blurted- “I thought we were going to talk about the nightmares.”

 

“That’s actually,” Otabek said, voice flat, “What this is about.”

 

“Oh?” Yuri said. “I thought this was about your sister.”

 

“The nightmares are about my sister, I mean,” Otabek said. “She-”

 

There was another silence. Yuri could see the faint outlines of his friend’s shaking. “She keeps dying in them.”

 

More silence. 

 

“Well, that sucks,” Yuri said. He could think of nothing else to say, for no words came to mind. Immediately he blushed, although he was unsure if Otabek saw it. He struggled for other phrases, ones that could actually comfort Otabek and be useful. “I-”

 

“No, you’re not wrong,” Otabek murmured, perhaps sensing Yuri’s dilemma. “Little understated, but not wrong.”

 

“I’m-”

 

“Sorry, I know. I thought you would be.” Otabek sounded resigned, and that was worse than the anger or disgust that could have come his way. “Everyone is, when they hear she’s sick. But no one can ever do anything about it.”

 

“What have you tried?” 

 

“Doctors,” Otabek said, shrugging. “What doctors we could afford, anyways. Neighbours have brought homemade remedies, and we’ve tried every natural herb in the book. She always wears loads of layers and stays in bed and rests and stuff, but even if she’s on her best behaviour, her body never quite fights the illness off.”

 

“So she’s always sick,” Yuri said. 

 

“Not exactly. She doesn’t- she’s not  _ always _ sick,” Otabek said. “But she always  _ gets _ sick. Constantly. She might not always be bedridden, but it’ll happen often enough that it’s hard for her to have a life outside of rest, and even when she can get up to do kid things, she’s always coughing or sneezing or-”

 

His voice broke off. “Or just, you know, lying still.”

 

“Oh,” Yuri said, speechless again for the second time in a night. 

 

“Yeah, oh.” Otabek sounded annoyed at first, but then he just sighed. “So yes, everything I know has been tried. The only thing that helps, occasionally, is this medicine from the castle apothecary, but it’s very expensive. I’ve only been able to access it since I became a knight, and even then, I have to go on all sorts of Quests to get enough money for the rewards.”

 

_ Shouldn’t your King-  _ Yuri wants to ask, but he doesn’t. A second later, he feels silly for even thinking it.  _ Shouldn’t your king give you these supplies for free, if your sister’s so sick?  _ Stupid. Yuri’s not a child, he knows that’s not how normal subjects are treated by their rulers. Even if, in an ideal world, people could receive this sort of justice, this is certainly not an ideal world. Still, for a brief second he wished it could be. Wanted it so badly, even though it went against everything that made sense. 

 

And that’s when it hit him- an offhand realization that clicks everything into place, painting a starker future than what he wanted. But it fit. 

 

“Otabek,” He said, “Are you- do you  _ want  _ to have these dreams?”

 

“What?” Otabek said. The word is sharp, sudden, but most of all it’s scared, like he feared the words that had come out of Yuri’s mouth. Like nothing else could have scared him more. 

 

(Honesty hour, huh?)

 

It was true. Honesty broke away shields like nothing else. Yuri knew, all too well, how vulnerable someone could be when their feelings attacked them. He didn’t want to push or pressure Otabek into telling him something he was uncomfortable with him knowing. On the other hand, they had to trust each other if they were going to get anywhere. If Otabek refused to tell him anything, Yuri would back off, but if this turned into a problem he wouldn’t know what to do. For now, Yuri had to trust that a little nudge would help, and wait to see Otabek’s reaction. 

 

“What do you mean?” Otabek asked again, sharper this time. Yuri didn’t need to see him to know how defensive he was. 

 

“Do you want these dreams?” Yuri said again. 

 

But no one could have broken this spell unless they had the will to override it. And the only two people that knew about it were them, so- 

 

Otabek was silent for a long, long time. Yuri could sense his struggle, his emotions and feelings and thoughts going who knows where in the dark. 

 

“Yes,” Otabek said, finally. He sounded surprised, as if he’d shocked even himself. Slower, he said, “I’m dreaming about my sister dying, and I want to see it.”

 

Yuri opened his mouth, but Otabek beat him to it with a bitter laugh. “Now how fucked up is that?”

 

“Why do you want to see it?” Yuri said cautiously, perhaps the only time he’d been cautious in his entire life. 

 

“I don’t- I don’t even-” Otabek’s laughter had started the border the edge of hysterical. It was the only time Yuri had ever seen him lose composure this badly, and he couldn’t even see him. “I don’t think you’d get-”

 

“When my grandfather died, I dreamed too,” Yuri said. Otabek’s laughter cut off like he’d seen villagers cut down trees. “It was hell on earth, those days. But when I dreamed, it would be just like before- just me and him, or sometimes they were nightmares, but I didn’t mind. I would have taken any chance to see him again, that’s only natural.”

 

Otabek didn’t respond. He took that as a signal to continue. 

 

“The thing is, though,” Yuri said, more somber than he’d been before, “The dreams didn’t change anything. They were nice dreams, but they couldn’t alter the fact that my grandfather was dead. If there was anything I could have done, the slightest chance to stop him, I’d have traded those dreams in an instant.”

 

“I know.”

 

“Even if it meant this. Even if it meant trying to kill a dragon.”

 

“ _ I know _ .” Otabek’s voice was equal parts tired and frustrated. “I know. It’s not that I don’t want to help her, I know that if I go back and she’s dead I’ll be devastated. I’ll never be able to live with the fact that I didn’t do more. It’s just… even if I do more, will it help? How long have we been like this, trying to reach a goal that’s never been in our sights? How long can she hold out? It feels like she’s already dead, to me. Like no matter what I do, it’s already hopeless.”

 

“Our goal is in sight,” Yuri told him sternly. “We’re on the mountain. We’re almost there.”

 

“But the days it’ll take-” Otabek said, and then sighed. 

 

Yuri could see shadows moving, a distinctly head-shaped darkness drooping downwards as if in defeat. He said, “You were so determined before. Don’t give up now.”

 

“I’m trying not to,” Otabek said. “But if I go back- when I go back, and I see her, and she might be dead- if she might be dead then, shouldn’t I see her now, while I still can?”

 

“But what are a few dreams, when you could have forever?” Yuri prompted. “Try thinking in the long term, not the short one.”

 

Otabek didn’t reply, letting his head fall to his chest once again. Yuri wanted to reach out and grab him, wanted to light up the darkness so he could see Otabek’s expression. 

 

“You can’t give up,” He told him fiercely, abandoning all sense of caution (which he’d never been good a preserving anyways) to the winds. “That’s it. I need light!”

 

-And with a snap of his fingers, he conjured a glowing orb. Otabek’s head snapped up, his eyes first going wide with surprise than narrowing against the sudden brightness. But Yuri, whose body could stand more than a human’s, had no problem and continued to hiss words right into Otabek’s face. 

 

“Listen up, shitface,” He said, “I tried to be sympathetic. I tried to be understanding. And I still am, in a way, except you’re not going to listen to me if I’m nice, and I need you to sit down and fucking listen.”

 

“I am sitting down-”

 

“Listen,” Yuri emphasized, stern, and Otabek fell silent. “You are not a bad brother. You have never been one. Even if you go back and find out the worst has happened, it will not be your fault. You’re doing the best you can, you’re doing all you can, and nothing will change the fact you can’t do more. Only what you feel about it can. So are you going to keep moping and feel sorry for yourself forever, or are you going to kick some dragon ass? Your choice.”

 

Yuri took a deep breath as he finished, chest heaving. He felt strangely lightheaded, as if he hadn’t just talked to Otabek, but to himself. As he stared ahead of him, into the dim night, he wondered what the other saw. 

 

And as Otabek looked up, his eyes gazing into Yuri’s, another person took the place of his newfound friend. Brown eyes this time, but no less fierce, blazing with a sort of determination he’d always envied. He could feel phantom hands gripping his hands so tightly he could barely feel them, wrangling a painful promise out of his mouth. Could see her disappointed look if she saw him now, losing sleep over what he couldn’t change. 

 

_ I can’t control the past _ , Otabek thought.  _ So I’ll focus on the present. _

 

Focus, and pray, and hopefully his sister would still be alive. Hopefully he’d make it back in time to buy her medicine and she’d live for years and years and years. 

 

And even if he didn’t, if he was too late- he tried. He tried, and sometimes that was all you could do. 

 

“Alright then, lets go,” Otabek said, straightening with renewed vigor. His limbs felt re-energized, energy surging through his veins. Yuri nodded, and his bright eyes, as determined as any soldier’s, shone with pride. 

 

“But first,” Yuri said, lips parting into a smile, “We should get some sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of this chapter! If you waited for this, for me to get my shit together, for all of this time- thank you. I really appreciate your patience. I suck. I know this is too short considering the wait it took, but it was originally supposed to be part of the last chapter until I decided to make it its own. The next one will be longer, I promise. Exams are over and my health is... better, and I'm not going to go into more detail about those two things because I really don't want to make excuses, but hopefully things will stay like that for a while. And if not, I'll do my best to give you guys a chapter anyways!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I figured we should start thinking about a plan of attack,” was the first thing Otabek told him the next day. Otabek’s tone as he talked sounded like he’d put a lot of thought into this, and considering the weight of their situation, the idea was in no way unreasonable. 
> 
> Due to the talk they had last night, which was necessary but nonetheless took up quite a bit of their time, both of them had slept in late. The sun had already made quite some headway into the sky by the time they’d finally gotten the energy to stand, and they’d spent most of the morning speedwalking to make up for the hours lost. 
> 
> He was surprised, perhaps unreasonably so, that Otabek would bring this up so quickly. He thought there was still time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> an update on life: 
> 
> -my debate team won silver at a national competition, yay  
> -we couldn't go to internationals because it coincided with exams, nay  
> -life is still stressful, what's new?

“I figured we should start thinking about a plan of attack,” was the first thing Otabek told him the next day. Otabek’s tone as he talked sounded like he’d put a lot of thought into this, and considering the weight of their situation, the idea was in no way unreasonable. 

 

Due to the talk they had last night, which was necessary but nonetheless took up quite a bit of their time, both of them had slept in late. The sun had already made quite some headway into the sky by the time they’d finally gotten the energy to stand, and they’d spent most of the morning speedwalking to make up for the hours lost. 

 

He was surprised, perhaps unreasonably so, that Otabek would bring this up so quickly. He thought there was still time. 

 

But then again, that was the point. They were on the mountain, and the time they had left before the final confrontation was running out. 

 

For the better part of this month, this Quest with Otabek had felt something like an adventure- sure, they’d nearly died a couple of times, but there’d also been days of stunning normalcy- walking side by side, watching him play with children, buying cakes at the bakery. This was a cold reminder that those experiences had only been a prelude to what they were truly here for- killing the dragon. Otabek, because he needed the reward money, and Yuri, because he’d broken the Protocol and was now tied to this Quest unless he wanted to lose his soul. 

 

Otabek continued talking, unaware of the inner turmoil Yuri’s brain was in. “I want us to be prepared when we find the dragon.”

 

“Good idea,” said Yuri, when he finally found his voice. “You’re the Questing expert. Any thoughts on what to do?”

 

“I was hoping we could discuss that, actually,” Otabek said, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish look. “To be honest, we should have started discussing this a long time ago, but I completely forgot. We’ve still got a bit of time, but we’ll need to make the most of it. Going into a fight with a dragon is no small task. We don’t have the power or the strength a dragon has, but that doesn’t matter. As long as we’re fast, we should have a fighting chance.”

 

“So we’d have to kill it quickly,” Yuri said, as Otabek nodded.

 

“The longer it stretches out, the more dangerous the thing gets. That means a sneak attack would be best, wouldn’t it?”

 

“Well, we’d have to find a way to sneak around it, for starters,” Yuri said. “When we get close enough, I could scout the location, but that’d take more time…”

 

“Let’s prepare for a few options first, then scout when it comes to it,” Otabek said, after a pause. “Being ready for any situation increases our chances of survival. Here, let me get some paper…”

 

They spent the next few hours drawing and sketching as they walked, trying to guess at the terrain. Otabek’s drawing skills weren’t that well rounded, but considering Yuri’s stick figures were only a shade better, both of them only had to look at each other to make a silent vow not to talk about it. 

 

His handwriting, to Yuri’s surprise, bordered on messy, nothing like the knight’s usual organized demeanor. He felt oddly pleased to know of this slight imperfection. It made Otabek seem more real somehow, more fae. Human. Well, both had flaws. He thought he understood that better, now. 

 

“Here,” Otabek said, finishing the last label on his drawing, “Most of them live in caves, I think, so even if we don’t know what the exact measurements of their home, it will probably be something like this.”

 

“Do we assume, once we get to the top, that any cave could hold the dragon?” Yuri asked. Once he’d said it, he couldn’t help the other questions tumbling out after. “But what if it’s not there? Do we hide and wait for it to come back? When it starts to fly down, do we attack it before it lands or after? Because I think, and this is something to consider -if it takes to the sky, and breathes fire at us, I think we’re screwed…”

 

“So we’d have to find a way to keep it on the ground somehow,” Otabek had come to the same conclusion as Yuri had, his brows furrowed. 

 

“Yeah….”

 

“But  _ how _ ?”

 

“I dunno,” Yuri took a breath, hesitating. “If it thinks we’re getting away with its treasure, will that make it hesitate? Or if…” 

 

He paused long enough for Otabek to turn around at him, one eyebrow raised. “If?”

 

“Well, dragons collect treasure, right? So I’m assuming that this dragon does so too, and presumably cares a lot about them. If we made the dragon think its treasure would be harmed if they breathed fire at us, then they’d have to stay low because that’s the best way to fight physically.”

 

“Maybe,” Otabek said, “But why would the dragon think that in the first place?”

 

“Dragon fire is really strong. It’s able to melt gold,” Yuri said. “If we’re next to its pile of jewels, there has to be gold in it somewhere, right? So if we stand close enough that it can’t burn us without melting the gold, they can’t use fire.”

 

Otabek’s eyes lit up, like a forest meadow in the midday sun. “Good idea, and once it’s on the ground, we can kill it.”

 

“Yes. ...Uh, how do we kill it, exactly?” 

 

“I don’t know,” Otabek admitted. They both sighed in unison, back where they’d begun. 

 

“If it’s sleeping…” 

 

“If it’s sleeping, I’ll never ask for anything again,” Otabek muttered under his breath. Yuri could relate. “But even if it is, we’d probably still be at disadvantage. The thing’s covered in rock-hard scales, I don’t know where I’d stick a sword in.”

 

“Wait a minute,” Yuri said. “The book said something about that, didn’t it? ‘The eyes are their only weakness’ or whatever.” 

 

“The eyes, then,” Otabek said. “Fuck, so that screws the ‘stab dragon in sleep plan’. I’m pretty sure they sleep with their eyes closed. Or maybe not, I don’t know, let’s just assume they do. Since I’m the only one who has a sword, I could probably run it through. If you could distract it beforehand-”

 

“Right. Surprise the dragon, or wake it up if it’s sleeping with its eyes closed, and when it’s panicking to try and kill me-”

 

“I jump in?”

 

“Right.”

 

They both paused. 

 

“We can modify it later,” Otabek muttered, continuing on. “I think before we decide on, say, concrete attack formations, we should focus on things like how you’re going to stay alive long enough for me to sneak that close.”

 

“I don’t think how we’ll attack will ever be concrete,” said Yuri, “There are too many chances of things going wrong, we need a backup plan.”

 

“Of course we should have a second plan. But I want to like- practice the very basic things first, the ones we will probably use- and build up from that. Because if we panic, those are the things I want us to be doing. Complicated maneuvers and flashy tricks won’t help us win. The real road to victory is mastering the basics. Without the basics, you have no ground to stand on.”

 

The dragon doesn’t need ground to stand on at all, Yuri thought, but he understood Otabek’s point. They were so far outclassed, the only way for them to win was to be very good at the things that had the most use, not to focus on one trick that could only work under certain conditions. 

 

It still made him feel uneasy. 

 

The next day, Yuri woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed. He yawned, blinking his eyes, and rolled over. It took a while after he’d woken to convince himself to get up, but eventually, with much groaning, Yuri managed to pull himself into a sitting position. 

 

He glanced back at his bed -or what could be called a bed, anyways, fuck he missed the inn- and what lay there. Beside his cot, sleeping peacefully, was Otabek, fast asleep.     
  
Yuri had to clap a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter. He didn’t remember a time when he’d woken up earlier than Otabek, and to see this now, after their talk yesterday, was heartwarming. He knew, reasonably, that their talk wouldn’t have solved all of his problems, but- but it was nice to see they’d had an effect, at least. Hopefully the rest of the Quest would be easier from here on out. 

 

Smiling to himself, Yuri wandered around in circles for a few moments before realising he should take action. Casting his mind back to what Otabek would do when he woke, he decided to try his hand at making breakfast. 

 

Reaching into one of their carry on bags, Yuri dug around for a few moments, trying to see what was inside. He pulled out a few things like preserved meat that he wasn’t quite keen on having for breakfast, and then found something he couldn’t quite place. This- he’d eaten this, but had somehow forgotten what it was called. It was a hard, ugly thing, all brown and lumpy. When Otabek had first used it in a meal he’d sniffed and turned away, only to grudgingly admit later that it’d been pretty tasty. 

 

Now, as Yuri held it in his hand, he contemplated trying to create another dish with this… object. He could do it, probably. Yuri had watched Otabek do it plenty of times, so surely he’d be able to recreate it by this point… right? But on the other hand, if something did go wrong and he ended up scorching it or rending it unedible, he’d end up wasting the food. Yuri stared at the vegetable with intensity, a scowl on his face. 

 

“Why are you looking at that potato like it stabbed you in the back?”

 

Ah yes. That was what it was called. 

 

“No reason,” said Yuri, and quickly shoved the potato back into the bag. No way was he going to admit that he was going to make breakfast for the two of them. Otabek was laying down on his cot, turned slightly towards the side, eyes like slits to shield them from the rising sun. “You feeling awake yet?” 

 

“If I say no, do I get to turn over and go back to sleep?”

 

“No. I’m hungry.”

 

“Ugggggghhhhhhhhhh.” 

 

It took a few minutes, some water, and a well-placed kick to the side to get Otabek ‘up for good’ but soon the knight was bustling over the pot, making gestures that Yuri assumed were either normal cooking methods or spells to curse Yuri’s portion of the food. He had, perhaps to spite Yuri, taken out the previously discarded potato and was making something with it. 

 

“Do you mind if I fly around?”

 

Otabek frowned down at the pot (He’d outclassed himself somehow, Yuri was sure, in his search for revenge. Who’s looking at the potato wrong now, he thought). “Sure, but be careful.”

 

“Will do.”

 

Yuri pulled his arm behind his back to stretch, before giving a little kick and flying into the air. It was quite chilly, had gradually become even more so as they’d been walking, and he longed for the days he used to complain of the heat. 

 

He followed the winding mountain path, paying particular attention to how walkable it became as he continued ahead. So far the walk was manageable, but he was concerned that eventually they’d get to a particularly narrow pass and things would become harder. Yuri could fly, of course, but Otabek could not. What if he slipped and fell? The thought caused Yuri’s breath to hitch for a moment, and he had to shake his head to get the image out.  _ You could catch him,  _ a voice in his head said. _ Well yes, he would try, but could he? _ said another. Yuri paused for a moment, hovering in the air and trying to imagine it. 

 

All those pounds of muscle that Yuri would have to lift- he’d seen Otabek fight, before, watched him flex- his biceps, his arms, the curve of his leg- Otabek, bright eyed, a crooked smile on his face as he realized Yuri had saved him….

 

His cheeks heated, and it suddenly seemed a lot warmer after all. 

 

He’d been gone too long. He should head back. 

 

And yet, Yuri didn’t move. He couldn’t tell what it was that anchored him there, in that spot, only that it seemed against everything he knew to budge. He stayed there for a while, a terrible feeling of suspense inside him, wondering what it was he wanted to do. And then he looked up. 

 

And there, beyond the trees and the rocks and piercing the sky itself, were clouds- no, was smoke, blocking the sun in shades of gray, casting everything below into shadow. 

 

Smoke.  _ From fire?  _

 

He drew back, subconsciously lowering closer to the floor. If that was smoke (and how it not be, because it was coming from the mountain’s top, and there was no rain) then smoke had to come from fire, and fire had to come from-

 

The dragon. 

 

Yuri glanced back, trying to spot Otabek, and cursed himself for being stupid enough not to realize just how far he’d traveled by himself. The camp was completely out of sight. Of course. He doubted Otabek might have heard even if he yelled. Here it was at last, evidence that the dragon was in fact on this mountain, and yet Yuri was having an internal crisis about it.

 

(So soon. So unprepared.)

 

Had his grandfather been this scared, too? Yuri had seen his book, seen his notes, spent almost all of yesterday using them to make a plan with Otabek. Surely his grandfather had done the same, with that unknown knight of his. It was only natural. But that bid the question- if Yuri’s grandfather had been more prepared, and still died, than just how fucked were he and Otabek? If his grandfather had had the same chances as them, better chances, even, then that meant-

 

_ You’re screwed,  _ a voice in Yuri’s head said, unhelpfully. He didn’t know how powerful the knight had been, but he knew how powerful his grandfather was, and there was no way in hell Yuri measured up to Nikolai Plisetsky. 

 

Whatever Otabek had been making was wafting through the air as Yuri finally made his way home. Despite his ridiculously long break, at least Yuri had stuck to the path. He dreaded to think of how long it’d have taken to retrace his steps otherwise. 

 

“Hey,” Otabek said as he saw Yuri draw closer. He was sitting on the ground, smiling, as if relieved Yuri had shown up. “How was your flight?”

 

“Fine,” Yuri said, out of habit. Then he paused. “Well actually, I-  _ what are those _ ?”

 

“What?” Otabek’s eyes were wide with confusion. He turned around, scanning the dirt behind him and coming up with nothing. His eyebrows pinched together. “What?”

 

“Those,” Yuri said, pointing at the pot. “I thought you were cooking a potato!”

 

“That is a potato!”

 

“But it  _ can’t _ be,” This wasn’t possible. Yuri shook his head. “Before it was bumpy and ugly. Now it’s all mushed up. Did you just… mash them together?”

 

“Yup,” said Otabek. He looked extremely smug. “I call them… mashed potatoes.”

 

“I hate you,” Yuri declared. “That is such a cheap way of making a meal.”

 

“Screw you, now you don’t get to eat any of the mashed potatoes!”

 

“No!” Yuri levitated the pot out of reach as Otabek playfully lunged at him, both of them laughing. “These are mine now!”

 

“Hey, I made them! Give them back!”

 

“Finders keepers losers weepers~”

 

They spent the next few minutes giggling uncontrollably on the floor until Otabek finally gained control of himself and offered Yuri a hand up. The two of them ate, only bursting into laughter every once and a while, until Yuri mentioned what he was going to say before. 

 

“There’s something I forgot to mention,” Yuri said. He must have sounded serious because Otabek stopped eating and to look at him with concern. “While I was flying ahead, I saw smoke coming from the top of the mountain.”

 

Otabek leaned forwards, interest gleaming in his eyes. “Smoke? Are you sure?”

 

“Yes, I’m sure. There’s no way it could have been rainclouds, the sky’s as blue as a robin’s egg.”  

 

“Well, that’s good right?” Otabek said slowly, as if he was trying to reassure himself. “It means we’ve got real life proof that the dragon is here after all.”

 

“Yeah, we do,” Yuri said, in the same tone of voice. “But it also made me think- are we really ready to face it? I mean, we don’t have much of a choice either way, but I feel like we should review some things. Yesterday we came up with a basic plan, but I think we should go farther. There’s one thing we didn’t take into account. What we’re both capable of. Questions are different- seeing it in person is different from theoretical discussion. I want for us to practice fighting with each other.” 

 

Otabek paused, thinking. He took so long Yuri started to get antsy. “What, is it a bad idea?”

 

“No,” Otabek said slowly. “It’s not. The contrary, actually. It made me think- we’ve never really fought  _ together,  _ have we? We’ve fought against the same side, but never really as a team. It’s like I always took a bunch of targets and you always took a bunch of targets and we both fought as two separate groups instead of one.”

 

“Yeah, basically,” Yuri said. “To be fair, our styles are so different that they’re hard to coordinate.”

 

“Well, we’re going to have to try,” Otabek said. “Hey, do you think it would it be useful if I taught you how to swordfight? That way you can understand what I’m doing. Might be harder if I try to understand magic, though. I can’t actually cast spells.”

 

“It might be useful to show you how it works,” Yuri said slowly. “Or at least give you real life experience of what I can do.”

 

“Enough to know what’s going on.”

 

“Yes,” He said, “Exactly. In case anything goes wrong and we can’t talk to each other, you might be able to predict my movements.”

 

“And we should probably spar each other sometime,” Otabek murmured. “That would be good.”

 

But first came the demonstrations. They decided to start with Yuri first, and Otabek launched them into a discussion so extensive it was all Yuri could do to return all of his questions. Otabek grilled him intensely on fae magic- the spells he could do, their levels of complexity, how much energy he’d have to spend on each one. How fast could he cast it? How familiar was it to him? Could any be of use? If so, how? I see. Interesting. He was precise, to the point, and talked quickly. And when that was done, he moved onto non-battle related things. For ages as they strode forwards, they multitasked talking about how fae applied their skills to things like agriculture and day-to-day chores. 

 

If Yuri could capture the look on Otabek’s face the first time he’d used his growing spell to enlarge a blade of grass, he would have. It was amazing, how such a simple thing could be the cause of such adoration. 

 

“That is so cool,” said Otabek, staring at the enlarged grass with a ridiculous amount of awe. “It’s big!”

 

“No, really,” said Yuri. “I must have missed that somehow.”

 

“No, you don’t understand!” Otabek continued, with a positively worshipful tone. “Before it was small, and now it’s big- if you could do this to food- the potential it holds-”

 

Yuri swatted the back of his head. “Focus!”

 

“Ow, okay, okay, I get it,” Otabek said, rubbing his scalp awkwardly. His eyes hadn’t lost the interested look, however. “But technically… this could still be of use. Sometimes in a battle things don’t always go the way we expect, and we’re going to need all the help we can get. If we can figure out a tactic to surprise the dragon in any way, it could earn us a few seconds more-”

 

“Or you could stare at it like you are now and let the dragon burn you to crisp,” Yuri suggested. Otabek shot him a glare, and he laughed. 

 

“That,” Otabek said grumpily, “is the voice of someone who’s bitter because he can’t use the enlarging spell on himself.”

 

Yuri gaped at him. “Say that again, I dare you.”

 

“That is the voice of someone who-”

 

Yuri kicked him in the shin, and immediately regretted t it because of the armour. “I’m only a bit shorter than you, asshole!”

 

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Otabek said. 

 

And then it was Yuri’s turn to learn and observe, and Otabek’s turn to show what he knew. 

 

"You were going to teach me how to fight?" Yuri said, stretching his arms above his head. “That’s what you said would help.”

 

"Not teach, guide," Otabek said, "You've already proven you're very capable of fighting. But if a situation arises where you can't use your magic, I figured it might be helpful to learn more of the fighting us mere mortals do."

 

"No need to be so modest, Otabek," Yuri said. "You're hardly a mere mortal. The humble me is honoured to have such a talented teacher."

 

Otabek shot him a look, but didn't take the bait. Pity. 

 

He took up the sword, and Yuri took up a wooden stick that he'd used magic on to make look like a sword, and Otabek got into position. 

 

"First, let’s start with the basics," Otabek said, straightening and extending his weapon in front of him. He then stepped forward with the sword in hand, and although he was nowhere close to cutting Yuri, the fae still took a step back. “This position is called the lunge. It’s the most basic thing you can do. All you need is to step into this pose, called striking position-”

 

Otabek gestured with his free hand to his body, so Yuri could assess how he stood. He’d taken off his armour for the demonstration, and Yuri tried not to let his eyes linger too long on the curve of his leg, the flexed muscles that were visible to the open air. 

 

He was brought back to reality when Otabek backed up, having finished saying something that Yuri missed. “Now you try.”

 

“Uhhhh,” Yuri said. “Actually… could you do it again?”

 

Otabek looked at him weirdly. “It’s a pretty simple pose.”

 

“I know, it’s just…” 

 

“Here, I’ll help you,” Otabek said. He made his way over, placing a hand on Yuri’s arm and moving it upwards. Yuri could feel his heart skip a beat, and he hoped that the knight couldn’t hear as he rearranged Yuri’s stance. 

 

“Now like this,” Otabek said, “Hold this position and step forwards.”

 

Yuri did. 

 

“There. You’ve got it.” Otabek took a look at him and smiled appraisingly. “See? You could do it after all!”   
  


He could always have done it, but he supposed Otabek chalking up his pause to nervousness was better than the alternative. 

 

“Now, moving on,” Otabek said. “The next few moves I’m going to teach you are still pretty easy, so you should have no trouble-”

 

Surprise! He had trouble. 

 

“No, not like that.”

 

“Bend your knees!”

 

“Stand straighter, don’t slouch.”

 

“Bend your knees!”

 

“Pull your feet closer together.”

 

“Bend your knees!”

 

"I don't think your knees are bent enough," Otabek said that evening, after they'd done one particular move about ten times. "One nudge from me and you'd probably fall over."

 

Eventually, Yuri grew tired of the constant criticism and raised his middle finger in defiance. "Fucking try me."

 

Otabek stared at him for a few seconds, and just when Yuri was sure he'd actually taken offense, burst out laughing. "Okay, I suppose your spirit gives you a few more fighting points."

 

Yuri just sniffed. 

 

"I don't see why I can't stick to spells," Yuri said, grumbling into his dinner later. "You complain about how difficult they seem, but they're a lot easier than the positions you knights drop into. At least I've already learned magic theory."

 

"I'm sure that was fun,” Otabek said. 

 

“Oh, you’d be surprised,” Yuri muttered under his breath. “School, no matter what it’s about, is never entertaining.”

 

Otabek laughed. 

 

"If you don’t like sword fighting so much, perhaps another kind of fighting would be better?” He suggested, “Like, I don’t know, wrestling?”

 

“What’s that?” 

 

“A type of sport, technically, except it can also be used in a fight. Traditional wrestlers were supposed to slick themselves with oil and fight each other without their clothes-” 

 

“Sounds like something Victor and Yuuri would do,” Yuri said. “Are you sure the word you mean is _ fighting _ ?”

 

It was extremely entertaining to watch the knight turn red. 

 

“Er, well, it’s not done on the battlefield anymore, from what I know,” Otabek said, “But it’s still a nice skill to have from when you don’t have a weapon. And uh, generally, you keep your clothes on, nowadays.”

 

“Sounds fun,” Yuri said, keeping his voice neutral, just to see how Otabek would react.

 

“I guess it is,” Otabek said. “I’ve never done it.”

 

“No time like the present,” Yuri said. “Come on, you can’t tell me I’d enjoy something then deny me the right to do it.”

 

“I said you  _ might  _ like it,” Otabek protested weakly, but he stood up all the same. “Not that you would. I’m not sure.”

 

“Well, I am,” Yuri said. “Alright then, big guy, time to show me what you’ve got.”

  
With a good natured huff, Otabek hurried to oblige. Alas, as neither of them actually knew how to wrestle, and as they soon realized that neither of them could afford to do the other any actual harm, the session quickly turned into a few fake shoves and weakly attempted chokeholds. 

 

Once, Otabek tried to grab him as if attempting to throw him down, but hesitated just long enough for Yuri to slip away. Instead of retaliating with force, however, Yuri reached for his neck with the intention of tickling him. The knight staggered away, gasping, and Yuri lunged after him with a joyful whoop. The two of them went tumbling down, Yuri pinning Otabek under him with his weight. 

 

There was a slight pause. 

 

The scene, Yuri remembered, was oddly reminiscent of one that had happened before, in the dark and the woods, when Yuri had tripped over a log and fell on top of him. Except he’d been flustered then, and he was too happy to be flustered now. 

 

“I win,” Yuri said, grinning down at him. 

 

“You win,” Otabek conceded, but he was grinning too. Both of them smiled, bright as the sun, and continued to stay like that, dazed and happy, for quite a while. Eventually, realizing they should leave, Yuri slid off and reached to help Otabek up. The knight grasped his hand and pulled himself into sitting position with a sigh, and Yuri, feeling tired but content, was happy to rejoice in the silence. It’d been a bright morning, a good morning. All was well. 

 

And that’s when Otabek turned to the side and promptly threw up. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> additional notes about life: It snowed today. In April. Why do I live in Canada.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It would have irked Victor endlessly if Yuri called his wings insectuous transclucent back outgrowths, which is why he did it so often. At first he’d started saying it ironically, almost like a joke, but it must have been more hilarious than he’d thought (or he missed Victor more than he wanted to admit) because but over time he’d started saying it constantly. 
> 
> “I can’t believe how much my insectuous transclucent back outgrowths hurt,” Yuri would whine after a particularly long flight, and the first time he’d done so Otabek had nearly tripped over air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk what to say because so much has been going on??? I'm so sorry that I haven't been updating recently. Everything has been crazy, what with projects and exams and shit. I've had most of this chapter done for weeks but there was barely time to post it. Also this isn't really edited as a result... ahahahahaha YEET.

 

It would have irked Victor endlessly if Yuri called his wings insectuous transclucent back outgrowths, which is why he did it so often. At first he’d started saying it ironically, almost like a joke, but it must have been more hilarious than he’d thought (or he missed Victor more than he wanted to admit) because but over time he’d started saying it constantly. 

 

“I can’t believe how much my insectuous transclucent back outgrowths hurt,” Yuri would whine after a particularly long flight, and the first time he’d done so Otabek had nearly tripped over air.

 

“Your what,” He’d said, voice hoarse. Yuri would have been lying if he said that the image of his friend just then, equal parts curious and horrified, with eyes like a fish’s and a gaping jaw had not been funny. Unfortunately, the problem with saying something constantly was that others got used to it eventually, and by now, Otabek had stopped looking as if he was on the verge of death and now only looked mildly haunted. 

 

And as if to enact revenge, Otabek would often go into lengthy detail about all of his blisters and cramps that he got from walking so long. It was pretty gross, but to be fair, so were  _ insectuous transclucent back outgrowths,  _ and Yuri had to admit, after a while it was kind of fun to see who could outdo the other. 

 

Today was one of those days. 

 

“Look at my back. Just look at it.”

 

“No.”

 

“It’s red all over, I can tell. My wings are crumpled leaves at this point, I don’t know how they’re still holding up.”

 

“You talk as if you know real pain,” Otabek said. “Have you ever considered that other people can’t fly and actually need to  _ walk _ ? Do you still remember what my blisters looked like yesterday, or should I show you again?”

 

“Blisters? Please. Said like a person who’s never had wingblade cramps,” Yuri said. “Do you want to see what it’s like? I’d trade you in a second.”

 

“My _ feet _ .”

 

“Will be fine.”

 

“No they wooon’t,” It was still unnerving to see Otabek whine. Usually Otabek seemed so stoic and calm, but as Yuri watched, his friend gave a sigh that Victor would have been proud of, and pretended to collapse to the floor.

 

“You’re ridiculous.” The words were dampened by the fact that Yuri had burst into giggles. 

 

Yuri found that as much as he liked his friend’s serious demeanor, this mischievous, almost childlike behaviour was great too. It was like a veil being lifted, and Yuri found that he liked it. Otabek’s eyes sparkled like morning dew when it was hit by sunlight at just the right angle. 

 

“You love me,” Otabek said. His tone was light hearted, teasing, but Yuri nearly bit his tongue off smiling. His face turned red in a way that wasn’t from the sun, and he turned away quickly. 

 

“You wish.”

 

“Maybe,” Otabek said. Yuri’s breath caught in his throat, threatening to lodge there and rob him of the ability to breathe. He wasn’t sure he wanted to, this conversation was heading into a direction that was both desirable and terrifying, bold yet fragile, and in the moment it seemed like the slightest disturbance would alter it. 

 

“You know, my grandfather would tell me stories about my grandmother, when I was younger,” Yuri was saying. 

 

“Oh?” Otabek said. He sounded a little disappointed that the subject was changing so suddenly, but raised an eyebrow in question anyways. 

 

_ Am I really going to say this?  _ “Yeah. Do you ever hear those stories where, you know, two people are completely right for each other, and they’re just ridiculously in love? That was my grandparents. They were always over each other, even though they were way past their primes and they’d been married for years. And sometimes my grandpa would tell me all sorts of stories about their romance, and I thought it was pretty cool, sometimes, but I also couldn’t relate. I pretended to, of course, but he knew I didn’t really get it. And when he confronted me about it, I said-”

 

Yuri had to stop and cringe for a bit. Otabek looked curious, but one side of his lips crooked upwards, like he was also struggling not to smile. “What did you say?”

 

“I said- and he liked to tease me about it, afterwards-” Yuri took a deep breath, then pitched his voice obnoxiously high to imitate him when he was younger. “ _ It’s just girls and boys make babies and those are gross, grandpa! You can have them. I want a kingdom. _ ”

 

Otabek burst out laughing. “Did you really?”

 

“I was obsessed with being a king,” Yuri said, shaking his head. “I blame Victor. He used to read me all these novels and tell all these _totally real_ stories about his life at my age.”

 

“How did your grandfather deal with you?”

 

“I suspect he consumed large amounts of alcohol when I wasn’t looking,” Yuri said. “But if you’re talking about this case specifically, I remember him laughing and telling me that I’d grow into it.”

 

“Oh, the classic adult response.” 

 

“Yeah, but I didn’t mind because it was in good spirit and all.”  _ Am I? Am I? Am I? Oh fuck it, Plisetsky, sometimes you have to take risks.  _ “And besides, it turned out we were both wrong, my grandfather and I. I was twelve, I think, when it happened. You think you know everything at twelve.”

 

_ Why did I do that?!?!??! WHHHHHY.  _

 

“Both wrong?” Otabek repeated his words slowly, almost purposefully slow, like he already knew what Yuri was going to say. 

 

“Still don’t like girls,” Yuri said. “Won’t object to a kingdom, of course, but I do want more than that, you know?”

 

Yuri looked at Otabek, half of him never wanting to break this stare, ever, the other half screaming in embarrassment and telling him to leave the country. And then find himself a hole to die in, preferably. 

 

“I see,” said Otabek. “And what, besides a kingdom, do you want?”

 

He hadn’t thought this far. Hadn’t thought beyond the story and the words and the stare (the fucking stare, with Otabek’s eyes on his and the raise of his eyebrows and the twitch of his lips, more smirk than smile, as he gazed back at Yuri), and now found that he was completely and utterly stumped. But he felt reckless, alive- a feeling he’d only attributed to battle, before, but this was a different kind of battle than he was used to. Yuri smiled the wildest he could and drawled, “You tell me.”

 

“Are you unsure?” Otabek’s eyes sparkled with something like amusement. “That’d have to be a first.”

 

“Please, I’m being coy. There’s a difference.”

 

“Why be coy when you’re most beautiful when you’re confident?” Otabek asked, and Yuri’s brain promptly shut down.  _ He called me beautiful, he called me beautiful, abort abort abort. Yuri will now stop working.  _

 

“And you’re most beautiful when you’re not talking,” Yuri shot back, but he couldn’t hide the flush of colour across his cheeks. 

 

“Hm,” said Otabek. “I can’t say I completely agree, of course, unless you can think of something worthwhile to shut me up?”

 

Yuri’s internal monologue, at this point, was just a bunch of high pitched screaming. 

 

“Why should I?”

 

“Well-”

 

Like a demon descending upon them, the wind picked up with such speed and fury that it was like being hit by a running bear. Yuri stumbled, almost falling over, while Otabek was sent hurtling towards the edge of the mountain edge. Yuri felt like someone had driven a knife between his ribs. He couldn’t breathe, and everything was suddenly so cold in this new wave of panic and fear. 

 

Thankfully, Otabek didn’t fall over, although it was a close thing. The wind continued to fly around them, making Yuri’s hair whip in all sorts of directions, before finally it died down a little. But there was still a distant sound of screaming in the distance, and Yuri was still cold. 

 

“What the fuck was that?”

 

There was no reply, and Yuri frowned. “Otabek?”

 

He looked as his friend. Otabek was half kneeling, half sitting, with one hand on the ground and another massaging his temple. Yuri knelt down beside him, and touched his arm. “Hey, you okay?”

 

When Otabek looked up, Yuri startled, almost flinching at how tired his friend suddenly seemed. Otabek’s eyes were clouded, almost as if in pain, and his hand was covered in rocks and smeared black from falling on them earlier. The mood between them had flipped so suddenly it was startling. 

 

“I’m fine,” Otabek said, drawing his hand back. “Just got a minor headache, that’s all.”

 

“Must be the wind or something,” Yuri said, wondering how human illness’ worked. “Hey, let’s get back from the edge, okay? It makes me feel antsy.”

 

There wasn’t too much space to backup, so Yuri suggested he fly instead. Otabek just nodded, frowning slightly, the hand resuming its earlier action. As Yuri floated above the trees, the top branches tickling his well worn soles, another gust of wind came barreling at him sideways. Caught off guard, Yuri braced himself and flapped his wings harder. It took quite a bit of effort, and his vision was cut off for a couple of seconds as his hair flapped madly in front of his face. 

 

“How’s it look from over there?” Otabek called. Yuri didn’t try to look down to where he was sure the knight stood, arms crossed against his chest, desperately trying to keep warm. 

 

“Fine,” Yuri hollered back, tucking as many strands as he could behind his ear. “I don’t see anything too great an obstacle.” 

 

“Great,” Otabek said. He even sounded like his teeth were chattering, which was not a good sign. “Now come down and cast that heat spell again.”

 

It said something about the weather that Yuri didn’t offer even a token protest, dropping to the floor in an instant. Although he was glad when a rush of warmth flooded him, chasing the cold away from his fingertips and making him feel like he was melting, almost, worry also nawed at the back of his mind. It wasn’t good to use spells for this long- he was already doing concealment spells, and the occasional bit of magic here or there for other reasons, and he was worried, with all the effort he spent, that he’d be downright exhausted by the time the dragon came. 

 

On the other hand, it was really fucking cold. The higher they climbed, the more the wind blew, and the more Yuri was grateful for the villager’s clothes and supplies. He’d spent most of his days in a nice, peaceful forest, and while they had experienced winter, none of the snowmen building he’d done as a child had ever prepared him for this. Otabek, for all his Questing, hadn’t either, if his behaviour was anything to go by. 

 

“It’s getting dark faster,” Otabek noted, staring upwards towards the sky, which had shifted from blue to red-and-purple in an astonishing short time, creating the effect that a patchwork quilt had replaced the heavens. A frown crossed his face, pulling down on his lips. “I remember the times when it’d stay lit well past this time.”

 

He’d said that a lot these past few days. 

 

“I remember, I remember,” Yuri said mockingly, although his words held no real bite. “Keep that up and people will mistake you for someone a million years old.”

 

“Someone a what now?” Otabek said, sounding confused. For a second, Yuri was confused too, but then he remembered and- oh, he winced, fuck, that was insensitive.

 

“Nevermind,” Yuri said quickly. Too late- he saw comprehension flash across Otabek’s features. Then sadness, then cleverly maintained apathy as he fought for control over his emotions. Guilt surged inside Yuri, and so did shame, causing him to flush and avert his eyes. 

 

(Human lives are so short.)

 

“How does that work, anyways?” Otabek’s tone was level. “I know you aren’t immortal, but your life spans are a lot longer, aren’t they?”

 

“Yeah. There are still people who’ve been around since the world was created. It’s rare, but possible. So dying isn’t really a thing in fae culture.” _ Shut up Yuri, shut up. _ “I mean, we can die if we got stabbed or something.”

 

His grandfather had been proof of that. “But generally we can get quite old. You know, more time to get stabbed and all.”

 

The joke fell flat, not even drawing the slightest hint of a smile from Otabek. Yuri tried not to cringe too obviously. 

 

“I didn’t mean to sound-” Otabek started, awkward, just as Yuri said, “I’m sorry, that was-”

 

They looked at each other and fell silent. Otabek coughed and cleared his throat, but he couldn’t seem to say a complete sentence. “I- that was- do you want to go first?”

 

Yuri fidgeted with his hands, interlocking them, before saying, “No, it’s fine.”

 

Another long, cold silence reigned. 

 

“Sorry,” Otabek blurted. “That is, I shouldn’t have brought it up, I didn’t mean to sound invasive or… jealous, or anything- you can’t control how long you live-”

 

“No no, don’t be sorry,” Guilt rose inside Yuri like a wave, threatening to pull him under and overwhelm him. “I wasn’t thinking about what I was saying. It was thoughtless of me, and I apologize.”

 

“It’s fine,” Otabek said. Yuri didn’t have to be a genius to know it was a lie. 

 

See, this was one of the things that neither of them could be at fault for, because neither could control what made them upset, and neither could control that it made them upset. Otabek was now intensely aware of his own morality, and Yuri knew that Otabek would die before him, maybe even before Yuri physically aged beyond what he looked like right now. The thought made him sad. 

 

How long was a human life- a couple of decades? Sixty years was long for them, Yuri thought. For a fae, it was nothing. 

 

For this reason, most fae considered humans tiny, insignificant- they felt no guilt when they manipulated humans with games, made bargains and killed loved ones, because what did it matter, in the end? A blink of their eyes, and the pests were gone. The world would move, would develop, would change without their presence. Humans toppled like ants. Nature changed much more slowly. 

 

Yuri had bought into the disregard for most of his life. Now, the thought of Otabek dying before him made him feel like he’d swallowed something unpleasant. 

 

“This is the most depressing conversation I’ve ever had before a meal,” Yuri said. 

 

_ That  _ did prompt a laugh out of Otabek, however small. Some of the tension eased a little, as it always did when one of them laughed. 

 

“It’s fine,” Otabek said again. “Shall we eat?”

 

“Alright,” Yuri said. They both shuffled off, dropping bundles to the floor, digging through satchels to find what they were looking for. Yuri grabbed some pre-gathered sticks, while Otabek mumbled to himself, trying to see what they should eat tonight. He arranged the sticks into a nice little pile and, with a snap of his fingers, conjured up a fire. 

 

He heard a _ thump _ behind him and turned. Otabek sat cross-legged on the floor with two handfuls of assorted vegetables, bread, and several pieces of salted meat in his hands. It was less than usual, and Yuri frowned at the sight. “Is that... enough?”

 

Were they running out of food? At some point halfway into their journey they had gone on this mass scavenger hunt to stock up, because they knew the closer they were to the top the scarcer the resources. At this point, Yuri wasn’t sure they could find anything even if they wanted to. So when he saw the lack of substance, a spike of panic shot through him. 

 

“Yeah, it is. I’m not feeling particularly hungry today,” Otabek said, rubbing his forehead. He smiled when Yuri shot him a worried glance, although the effect was somewhat dampened by the fact that he didn’t look so well. “It’s nothing.”

 

“Is it-”

 

“No. Nothing to do with our previous line of conversation.” As if reading his mind, Otabek flawlessly predicted what he was about to ask next. “Don’t feel bad about it.”

 

He couldn’t help but do so. 

 

Why did it upset him? Well- why wouldn’t it? He and Otabek were friends, after all (He tried to ignore the voice inside him asking if that’s all they were). Friends should be able to grow old with one another and spend time with each other. The thought of never hearing Otabek laugh again, never again getting to stroll with him around town, or talking to each other at midnight caused his stomach and chest to ache. The pain was oddly disorienting, and felt so strangely real, like he’d been dealt a physical blow. It reminded him of how he’d felt when his grandfather died. 

 

_ Get a grip,  _ he told himself.  _ Otabek isn’t dead. He’s not even injured. Quit thinking about it.  _

 

It was harder than it sounded. That night, Yuri tossed and turned relentlessly for hours before drifting off into sleep. 

 

He was woken, for the first time in ages, in the middle of the night. Yuri yawned, struggling to make out something in the darkness. It was hard to open his eyes, and harder still to string together a coherent thought. Dazed and still half asleep, Yuri’s mind jumped to what he knew- nightmares, and- 

 

“Otabek?” Yuri mumbled sleepily, struggling to rise. He turned to the side and saw the knight’s shadow, the faintest outline of his form, against the pitch black night. Otabek was half-risen out of bed, propped on his elbow. Yuri’s palms were sweaty. His body seemed to understand well enough to be anxious, but his mind wasn’t fully functional yet. It took all his strength to roll himself closer. That just hurt, because of the ground, so he settled for awkwardly scooching instead. “Otabek?”

 

It was only after a few seconds had passed that Yuri realized there were no actual screaming sounds, and that the only noises were that of muffled retching. 

 

“Hh- fine,” Otabek said after a moment, voice strained. There was a hacking cough, and then silence. 

 

“You don’t sound fine.” It was too early for a filter. With great effort, Yuri scrambled into sitting position and tried to get a good look at his face. 

 

“I am, really.” The lie was obvious, even if you ignored the continued coughing. Otabek’s breathes came in heavy bursts, like he’d just ran a marathon, and his voice was hoarse. 

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Well, I mean- I do feel a little unwell.” As if he’d felt guilty about before, the truth tumbled out of Otabek’s mouth with minimal prodding on his end. 

 

“Do you think you can sleep it off? We’re almost at the top of the mountain.” It would be disastrous if Otabek got ill now, was what Yuri didn’t say. Yuri didn’t have to, because Otabek already knew. 

 

“I can try.” 

 

And Otabek did try. Yuri watched him settle in out of the corner of his eye, shifting on the ground. He saw him in the morning, one hand raised towards his temple before freezing, as if realizing what he was doing. Yuri tried to dismiss it, but it was impossible to deny the truth once they’d begun walking. The knight’s pace was slow, tired- Otabek looked flushed, and every once in so often a cough would sputter out of him, as if he needed moments to even recuperate the energy for that. 

 

"We could- rest," Yuri said, hesitantly. He was afraid his offer would be met with refusal, but he had to say it all the same. As polite and proper as Otabek could seem, he was also awfully bullheaded at times, and pride could get the best out of anyone.

 

Sure enough, there was a brief second where Otabek seemed to stiffen, facial expression hardening, but eventually he slumped down and sighed.

 

"Yes, I suppose so," His tone edged on sullen. "It might make things better."

 

"To be fair, I'm tired too," Yuri said. "Not just you."

 

"It’s just that I'm worried I'm going to get sick," Otabek said, to nothing in particular. His voice was low and his eyes downcast, and Yuri had a feeling those words weren't meant for him.

 

"I'll go find a place," Yuri said. He took to the skies, trying to keep one eye out for a spot and one eye on Otabek, who'd been prone to accidents these past few days. Bad idea, as it turned out doing both at once was very unsuccessful.

 

"See anything?" Otabek yelled.

 

"I-" Quick, there had to be somewhere- "There's a bunch of trees up ahead? That sound good?"

 

"The shade is cold now," Otabek replied.

 

"But the sun's too bright!" Yuri didn't understand why the weather worked that way, but no matter how much the sun shone, it was still freezing on this mountain. He supposed it was the wind. "We could sit on the very edge of the shadow."

 

There was no reply. "Otabek?"

 

"Yeah?" came the reply. Yuri started to get the feeling that Otabek was just frustrated at the world right now, and was going to be frustrated at everything he suggested.

 

"How about," Yuri said, scanning the area one more time, "Oh, that's good, there's a little alcove over there where the rock juts out a bit. It's shady, but it'll also block the wind. is that okay?"

 

"I guess." Wow, how enthusiastic. Yuri flew down, quickly schooling his raised eyebrow as he landed.

 

"How far up ahead is it?"

 

"Sort of far, but not much. A little round that bend," Yuri said, pointing. "Is it-"

 

"It's fine," Otabek said, and broke into a walk before him. His steps were oddly fast, and as Yuri scrambled to catch up, frustration rose in him, a particular feeling that had not been directed at Otabek for quite some time. But this was too similar to their earlier days of 

 

Suddenly, Otabek ground to a dead halt. Yuri, caught off guard, nearly rammed straight into him but caught himself just in time. While his heart was still beating ten times it's normal speed -they could have fallen off, fuck- he burst out, "What the hell, Otabek?"

 

But he didn't reply.

 

“Otabek?”

 

"Where was it, again?"

 

“Where was what?” Yuri said, trying to look over Otabek’s shoulder and frowning. “The cave? It’s just up ahead.”

 

“I-” Otabek frowned, almost squinting into the distance. He rubbed his eyes and blinked again. "Sorry, my vision went… blurry for a second."

 

He didn’t understand. "Like- like you couldn't see?"

 

"No, like things just sort of merged together for a moment. It was disorienting, I don't know."

 

"Have you been getting enough sleep?"

 

"Yes." And at Yuri's look, " _ Yes _ . Things have improved a lot since we stayed up that one night. I don't think it's that."

 

"Maybe it's just the walking that's stressing you out," Yuri said.

 

"Maybe." Otabek murmured. "But I don't trust it not to happen again. How about you take the lead, and I follow you instead?"

 

“Alright,” Yuri said, not even trying to hide his annoyance. He stepped around Otabek and started walking. It was better to be able to set the pace, but he didn’t like the idea of not knowing what Otabek was up to. If the knight got tired again, he wouldn’t know. But then again, even if he did know, what could be done about it?

 

“I’m sorry,” Otabek said, interrupting Yuri’s thoughts. 

 

Yuri stopped walking, turning back to look at him. “For what?”

 

“For being such a dick,” Otabek said. “I’ve been unbearable lately.”

 

"Yes,” said Yuri, without even bothering to deny it. No use sugarcoating the truth. Surprisingly enough, Otabek’s lips twitched upwards, as if Yuri’s honesty amused him. 

 

“Yes,” He agreed. "I regretted everything I said as soon as I said it. I don’t know why I’m so angry. It’s not you- it’s just… I’m getting frustrated at everything, I suppose. And I’m taking my anger out on you, which is unfair.”

 

"It is. And pretty annoying, too," Yuri confessed. "But I appreciate you apologizing for it. All's forgiven."

 

And he smiled at him, and Otabek, who's eyes seemed a little more relieved, smiled back.

 

"It's just- I just feel like I'm not contributing enough. I don't mean that as an excuse, it's not, but I wish there was something I could do to change this." And Otabek waved at himself, looking like a puppy that had been kicked.

 

“Are you getting sick, do you think?”

 

“I don’t seem to be coughing,” Otabek said. “And you cast the heat spell earlier, so it shouldn’t be that either, should it?”

 

“Not unless I messed up, and I don’t think I did,” Yuri replied. They stood in silence for a while. “Let’s just get to the cave, okay? And then we’ll work it out.”

 

“Okay,” Otabek sounded tired, but followed Yuri as he led him down the path. They both arrived safely, thankfully with no more scares on 

 

“So let’s review,” Yuri said, once they were safely inside. “You’re visions disoriented? You don’t feel well?”

 

“Headaches, puking,” Otabek listed. The bags under his eyes were huge. “It’s been interrupting my sleep a little.”

 

“But you’re not running a fever? Nothing?” Yuri put a hand against Otabek’s forehead, frowning. It wasn’t hot, but was that because the mountain was really cold? “Was it something you ate?”

 

“I’ve haven’t eaten anything new,” Otabek said, “Though I have less of an appetite now.”

 

“Huh,” Yuri said. It was too bad  _ hot forehead  _ was the extent of his knowledge in human sickness. “Is there anything in particular that’s bad?”

 

Otabek had to pause at that, cocking his head to the side like he hadn’t considered seriously assessing it before. 

 

“Breathing,” He said, finally. Otabek shook his head in frustration. “No matter how much I try to inhale, it always feels like there’s too little of it.”

 

“Breathing?” repeated Yuri. “I haven’t heard of an illness like that before. Is it a human thing?”

 

“I wouldn’t know, I haven’t heard of it, either.” 

 

“When did this problem start?”

 

“Probably sometime on the mountain. It gets worse as we get higher, I think.”

 

“Could it be related to being on the mountain, then?”

 

“I wouldn’t know, I haven’t been this high up before,” Otabek said helplessly. 

 

“I can breathe fine,” Yuri said contemplatively, “But that might be because I’m fae. I’ve never had breathing issues no matter how high I’ve flown.”

 

They sighed in unison. 

 

“If you really struggle with breathing, I could try and cast a spell for it,” Yuri suggested. Otabek looked pained. 

 

“But we should save your magic-”

 

“-which will disappear if I don’t help you defeat the dragon,” Yuri finished, “Which cannot be done unless you are actually alive to defeat the dragon. So.”

 

Otabek shook his head, but didn’t protest this time. Yuri figured he might be getting to him. 

 

“Listen, Otabek,” Yuri said, “Relax, okay? I’ll cast the spell and we’ll see if it helps. If it does, great. If it doesn’t, it can’t possibly do more harm.”

 

“Fine,” Otabek said. “A trial run. Until tomorrow.”

 

His eyes were unhappy, but the agreement was there. Yuri wished he could smooth out the edges and ease the tense line around his shoulders. He remembered, a long time ago, when he’d been in the same situation, almost. Too prideful to accept help or acknowledge his suffering. Otabek had been there for him then, so shouldn’t he be there for him now? The problem was- how?

 

Yuri thought about it for a moment, lips pursed. The two of them sat down, each of their brains thinking furiously, albeit for different reasons. 

 

And then an idea struck him. 

 

He glanced down at his ankles, where gravel and twigs that had been blown by the wind lay. They were still, unmoving, but with a quick whispered word, that changed. Yuri watched, eyes sparkling as the little pieces of ground began to rise, hovering in the air for a moment before taking off. Sticks and pebbles and leaves flew about, circling and spinning in little dances. They pranced by him over to Otabek’s head. At first the knight didn’t notice, much to Yuri’s amusement, and he pulled some sticks closer, making them tap on Otabek’s ears and on top of his head.

 

That got Otabek’s attention, all right. The knight’s head snapped up, eyes narrowed until he realized just what he was looking at. He craned his neck to see above him, watching as the pebbles weaved in little circles around each other. His expression changed from annoyed to confused to entertained in the span of a few seconds. Understanding seemed to light up inside him, as bright as a firefly's bottom. 

 

Otabek looked at them and then at Yuri, and Yuri smiled back. With a little snort of laughter, Otabek turned back. The circles had become little squares, and a few moments later they began dancing a fairy folk dance. The twigs bent at the half to each other, like little gentlemen, while the rocks simply rolled as a salute. 

 

It was harder than he’d thought it be to come up with movements on the spot, but Yuri managed. Whenever he didn’t know what to do he’d simply have them all jerk around like mad men, which always prompted a laugh. After the third or fourth dance, Otabek began to hum a song. It was sweet and lively, elegant with a bit of flair. Yuri shifted the dance, which had originally been a slow one, to change. Without either of them mentioning it or even saying anything, this became a pattern. Every now and so often Otabek would change to a different tune, and Yuri would shift the dance to match the new melody. It was nice. There were no worries when they were like this, sitting beside each other. Sometime along the way Otabek shoulder and his had began touching, the warmth between them thawing the outside chill, and their heads leaning against each other. 

 

It was so peaceful that Yuri almost forgot to cast the breath spell, but he did. He heard the knight inhale and exhale deeply a few times, but couldn’t tell if Otabek felt better or not. He stopped humming. Time ticked by slowly. At some point Yuri felt too tired to keep the dancing up, and that stopped too. He didn’t remember much from that point onwards- the grey of the cave wall, the howling outside, the sound of synced breaths- before he fell asleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might come back and edit this later. We'll see. Just a heads up- I probably won't be writing for the next... maybe two-ish weeks or so? And I'm doing summer school, but... I'll see what I can do.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was this nursery rhyme that Yuri had heard when he was younger. It was a stupid song, silly but catchy like most nursery rhymes were. Yuri had heard it a dozen times as a child, but not for quite some time. Naturally, this meant that it’d gotten stuck in his head the day of his probable death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like the last chapter, this is BASICALLY UNEDITED, because I'm going camping for a week starting tomorrow (Except my parents didn't tell me until a few days ago) so all of this was churned out last minute ahahahahahaha. 
> 
> (Can you tell that I'm not okay? Because I'm not.)

There was this nursery rhyme that Yuri had heard when he was younger. It was a stupid song, silly but catchy like most nursery rhymes were. Yuri had heard it a dozen times as a child, but not for quite some time. Naturally, this meant that it’d gotten stuck in his head the day of his probable death. 

 

_ What does a dragon do? _

 

_ Does it swoop and soar in the sky so blue? _

 

_ Yes, my dear, and it makes you rue- _

 

_ Stealing all your fair maidens, and a pot of gold if have you _

 

It wasn’t the most accurate piece, Yuri was fairly certain the maiden stealing was only in the fables. But the other half of that sentence did make some sense. Dragons were attracted to treasure, Yuri had read a book that said as much. It was too bad there hadn’t been much other information, but-

 

Well, people could make do, couldn’t they?

 

Beside him, Otabek busied himself with packing up their supplies. The sun’s rays were just beginning to reach them, the sky a pale, pretty pink. He watched as Otabek glanced at the sack, and then at the list he held in his hands. The knight was in charge of making sure they had everything before they set off, as he was undoubtedly the most organized of the two. And Yuri...

 

Yuri glanced at his hands. For years they’d been as pale as snow, soft as petals, but now, after days spent sparring with a sword, and even more spent with reins in his hands, they’d become thicker, more calloused. Harsh, with none of the boyish softness remaining. But the one thing that had not changed was their potential for magic. Yuri watched as purple lightning zigzagged between his fingers. He made a fist, and then they were gone. 

 

And Yuri? He was in charge of finalizing their plan of attack. More accurately, he was in charge of coming up with a completely new one, now that all their plans had gone to shit. Originally, he’d been in charge of distraction and Otabek was the one who’d finish the dragon off. But- 

 

But then Otabek had gotten sick, an illness that neither he nor Yuri knew of, although they suspected it was caused by the raising altitudes. Otabek’s breathing had grown laboured, and he’d suffered as a result, and it was only until too late that they’d realized how much it had affected him. Even now, as Yuri observed him, he seemed more tired and haggard as usual. He’d recovered some, and could now sleep without puking or coughing, but it was still definitely not the most optimal shape to be in considering they were fighting a dragon. It was the thirtieth day since they set out, practically a month. Two days since Yuri had cast a breathing spell in hopes of curing Otabek’s illness. They’d delayed all they could, but both of them had so much at stake if they didn’t hurry it up. 

 

So far, though, Yuri had come up with nothing. No plan, no weapon, not even magic, he thought, could guarantee them an easy win. Magic was a volatile thing, both a blessing and a curse. A gift as old as time itself, that held its secret not in the body but the soul -an attachment more permanent, than say, soft hands which had never seen a battle. But like everything, it could perish if one wasn’t too careful. Yuri would know, because he faced the risk of losing it, if he didn’t succeed. If he didn’t kill the dragon. 

 

But how could a dragon die? Death was an odd subject for him, as it was for many fae. Fae weren’t immortal, but they might as well be. They lived so long that to them, death was an abnormality. So when you took into consideration a dragon -a dragon, which was to fae what a tree is to a bush- larger, tougher, with an even longer life span-  _ well _ . If a dragon died, it was an impossibility come to life. Even Nikolai Plisetsky, head of one of the four noble houses, member of the Fae Council, had been killed fighting one. 

 

(Grandpa…)

 

Yuri could do it, though. That’s what he told himself in the nights when the doubts kept creeping in on him, the hope that he had to believe in, to hold on to. He was nothing if not a fighter. And he owed it to his grandfather to  _ try _ , at the very least. 

 

So he set his worries aside and did his best to sketch a plan in the dirt. If Otabek was too tired to fight the dragon head on, then their idea of him fighting might not be the best. But could Yuri kill the dragon? He wasn’t sure he was strong enough, but it seemed like their best shot. Reversing the roles would work… except then Yuri might not have anything to stab the dragon with. He hoped his aim was good enough to get its eye with some spell…. 

 

“Any ideas yet?” Otabek’s voice startled Yuri out of his reverie. He turned back, watching as the knight wiped the sweat off his brow, gazing at Yuri from beneath dark lashes. 

 

“Not many,” Yuri admitted. “How do you feel about your chances in head to head battle with a dragon?”

 

Otabek looked at the sky as if asking for his strength to miraculously return. He sighed. “Not as good as I would like.”

 

“That’s what I was thinking,” Yuri said. “And since you’re in that state, I thought that maybe-”

 

“We should switch places?” Otabek finished, “Yeah, that’s probably for the best.”

 

He sounded both disappointed and relieved- Yuri couldn’t fault him. As terrifying as the prospect was, slaying a dragon was something that all knights longed to do, after all. As for Yuri, he was just plain terrified, but it was their best shot. 

 

So many things had happened between the two of them meeting each other, to them setting off on the Quest, to the journey up the mountain. They no longer who they once were. They’d grown to be close, and they trusted each other. That’s why Yuri confessed something that had been bothering him for a while- something that could change the way they planned entirely. Truth be told, these past few days he’d felt kind of strained- they were already using his magic for concealment and heat and Otabek's illness. If they went any higher he'd have to start blocking out the wind and might have to expend more energy and who knows what other difficulties they’d run into?

 

With this in mind, he and Otabek drew out a new idea. 

 

This time, Otabek would be the bait and Yuri the lynchpin. But there was one twist- instead of going up the mountain even further, possibly into dangerous terrain, and risk getting cornered, they were going to choose the venue. And then  _ they would make the dragon come to them.  _

 

It was simple, really, born of the nursery rhyme and the book that Yuri had read. Dragons loved treasure, and this one was likely no different. Using his magic, Yuri would make a mirage of treasure so the dragon could come by. That's when Otabek would strike. Otabek would distract the dragon and test his abilities. Mainly, he would try and make the dragon turn towards the rising sun. Then all Yuri would have to do, in this second of momentary blindness the dragon would have, was strike. He'd have one chance, and it'd be very quick. If he failed... well, Yuri didn't want to think about that. If everything went well, it would be fast, simple, and no one would die. It was a nice thought. 

 

But first, the terrain. Otabek and Yuri set out immediately, discussing things. They wanted the space to be small enough so that the dragon couldn’t turn around too much, which might prevent it from taking off too easily. Yet it had to be big enough so that the dragon could turn in the first place. And it had to be flat enough that they wouldn’t topple off the cliffside. Considering how high up they were now, that was going to be difficult, unless-

 

“If we spent so much time climbing this damn thing that we’re going to have to climb down it, I’ll fucking stab myself,” said Yuri. Otabek nodded tiredly. 

 

Discussions recommenced.

 

“Could we just fight it in the cave and forget the luring part?” Otabek suggested, “But keep the other stuff?”

 

“I mean, I suppose that works,” Yuri said. “You’d have to draw it outside for the sun to shine in its eyes though, wouldn’t you?”

 

“I mean, I guess?” Otabek said. “Depends where the sun is when we attack.”

 

“But then our attack depends on the way the cave opening faces,” Yuri moaned. They sighed together. 

 

“How big is a cave anyway?”

 

“I don’t know? Hopefully not that big, though.”

 

“I don’t think it’d be too large,” Yuri hummed thoughtfully. “I mean, it also should have lots of treasure in it, and that must take up space.”

 

“True. But if our success depends on their terrain then-”

 

“Then it puts us at a disadvantage because we don’t know what to expect.” Yuri put his head in his hands. “Dammit.”

 

“Eyes on the road,” Otabek chided, before heaving their supplies higher up his shoulder. Yuri removed his hands just in time to see him tighten his lips into a thin line. “I suppose we’re going to spend a lot of time discussing what to do in the various possibilities, aren’t we?”

 

“Yep.”

 

By the time that they do find the dragon, they’re almost over-prepared. 

 

Here’s how it happened. It was afternoon, just past lunch, and the sun blazed down on their backs. The snow peaked mountains, however cold, did nothing to stop this from being annoying -in fact, it just served to make it even more so, as they were high enough that the snow reflected the rays off, practically blinding them. They spent the past while squinting and hoping they wouldn’t slip and topple off the side or something. That’s why, when they finally stumble across the dragon, it’s the scent that tips them off and not the sight. 

 

“What’s that smell?” Otabek noticed it first, coming to an abrupt stop, but it was Yuri that vocalised their thoughts. The air was odd, smokey, like a campfire left too long. It seemed to have gotten even colder. Yuri dropped his hand from where it was shielding his eyes (and blocking a good portion of his eyesight while he was at it) and that’s when he saw it. 

 

‘It’ being a big, billowing cloud of grey smoke, drifting in tendrils across the sky. This close, the cloud blocked out light better than Yuri’s hand did. He rubbed his eyes, finding that he could still see fine, except- 

 

“Argfhhhk,” Otabek made a sound like a dying fish, and then did it again, and again. After a few moments he stopped, hand clamped over his mouth, and what Yuri assumed was a muffled apology came from his lips. As a result of the aforementioned hand, it sounds more like “arahaggghga.”

 

“It’s the smoke,” Yuri said, by way of reply. He pointed to the place it seemed to be coming from, which was still several turns ahead. “I bet you anything our dragon is there.”

 

Otabek hacked out a series of coughs. “Why didn’t we see anything before?”

 

“Maybe it wasn’t breathing fire then? I assume it got cold like we did.”

 

“Can dragons do that?” 

 

“Breath fire?” Yuri was confused. 

 

“No, get cold,” Otabek looked irritated. “Because if it doesn’t and is choosing to live here on purpose, then it deserves whatever discomfort it’s suffering now.”

 

Despite himself, Yuri laughed. “Maybe it just likes being problematic.”

 

“Oh, so like you then.”

 

“Hey!”

 

The sound was louder than Yuri wanted it to be, and he tensed afterwards, still as he remembered where he was and what situation they were in. Surprise was practically their only advantage, if he ruined it-

 

“Let’s try to be quieter from now on,” Otabek murmured. “How do you think we should go there?”

 

Yuri tried to pinpoint the spot more specifically. Due to the winding paths of the mountain, it’d probably be at least an hour before they got there. “I think if we take that path left it’ll lead us right to the entrance.”

 

“Perfect,” said Otabek, his teeth chattering despite the heat spell. “Time to get this over with.”

 

The walk was excruciating. 

 

Yuri wanted to get the whole thing over with, yet he feared ever arriving. It took all his effort to avert his gaze from the smoke because he knew if he looked at it too long he’d give in to panic. Every step was a menace, every second was one second he could have spent tackling the dragon instead. Yet the path was also too short, and their steps were too large and fast. He supposed what he really wanted was to skip to the part where he’d already defeated the dragon, but he supposed that was impossible. 

 

He spent so long twisting his thoughts inside his head that he nearly tripped over his feet when Otabek stopped beside him. 

 

“Wha-” Panic threatened to choke him for a second, surely they weren’t there yet? His head snapped up, but he couldn’t seem to process what he was seeing. 

 

“Sorry, I thought I saw something,” Otabek said. He pointed at a tree, a layer of ice glazed over its branches. “Turned out to be a weird reflection, though.”

 

“You scared the shit out of me,” He accused, not even bothering to put up a pretense. Yuri’s hand clutched at his heart, the painful pounding of it loosening a little. “I thought we’d arrived.”

 

“No such luck, we still have a bit to go.”

 

_ Would it have been bad or good luck if we arrived, though?  _ Yuri wondered and didn’t say. He focused instead on putting one foot in front of the other, although he no longer attempted to block out the sight of the smoke. It was there and he might as well deal with it, and besides, he didn’t want another scare. 

 

The entrance to the cave lay east. Piles of snow lay on either side of it, but the opening itself had no snow in front, only small grey lumps of what looked like snow mixed with soot. The edges of the cave rock were dry and blackened, and there were gorges deep into the rock floor- the perfect size for long, sharp claws. The smell of smoke lingered in the air, a heavy blanket surrounding and suffocating everyone around it. It seemed to be coming from the top of the cave, not the entrance, and Yuri could only assume there were cracks in the ceiling, or maybe a hole of some kind. He saw Otabek raise a hand to his mouth, and quickly cast a muffling spell so the sound wouldn’t travel far. And then, because of course he’d fuck up this badly, Yuri made the mistake of trying to speak. He inhaled a breath full of soot, and this time, he was too slow to stop the sound of his hacking coughs. It rang throughout the air, echoing off the mountainside. 

 

“Do you think the dragon heard that?” Yuri hissed frantically, after casting a spell to keep the ash away. 

 

“I don’t know,” Otabek whispered back. “Maybe?”

 

Well. Nice to know they were off to a great start. 

 

“Should we… go in now?”

 

“I don’t know.” What had they planned again? “But if we do, won’t the dragon be expecting that? There’s smoke coming from over there- so maybe there’s another way in-”

 

“You go check,” Otabek said. His eyebrows were furrowed. “Be careful.”

 

Yuri took off much slower than he normally did. He hovered over the entrance, going higher bit by bit, struggling not to make any sound or quick movements. He had a sudden vision of the dragon’s head appearing out of nowhere, shooting fire at him and burning him to crisp. It wasn’t a pleasant image. Still, slowly but steadily he inched higher, trying to see past the smoke, eventually having to enter the cloud in hopes he’d find something other than the dragon’s head on the other side. 

 

There  _ was _ a hole. 

 

Yuri blinked, not sure what he was seeing. His eyes didn’t seem to like that, they were watery and red from all the debris in the air, but he rubbed them anyways, trying to see clearly. 

 

There was a hole, and out of it the debris rose, almost like a chimney for a dragon. It was sort of endearing in a way, until you noticed the particularly blackened rock in that area and the cracks in the roof, and realized that even when the dragon wasn’t breathing fire it was still powerful enough to cause that much damage. 

 

Fantastic. 

 

But there was one thing good about it- or one thing that could be seen as good, he supposed, if you weren’t particularly opposed to danger- if offered another way in. 

 

If -and that was a pretty big if- if Otabek could lead the dragon away, out of the cave and hold it off for a second, maybe two- then Yuri could jump down that hole once the smoke stopped coming out, and have the element of surprise. If he came from the dragon from behind, then he might have a better chance of getting it to turn towards the sun. The key would be Otabek not dying before he had the chance to do so. 

 

Yuri flew down and relayed his plans. The knight paused, one hand on his chin, thoughtful. 

 

“It could work,” He said. “Do you think the hole is, uh, large enough for you to fit through?”

 

“I think so?” Yuri said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a tight squeeze or if it’s too hot, I can always do a little bit of magic to fix those issues. What I’m concerned about is whether or not you can hold the dragon off for long enough.”

 

Otabek didn’t even look offended, he just shrugged as if to say  _ that’s fair.  _ “I can do it.”

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Yuri,” He said, a little bit exasperated, a little bit something else, and the timbre of his voice made Yuri’s thoughts still. “I _ have _ to.”

 

He looked at him, brown eyes steady and unmoving- and Yuri sighed. “Alright then, let’s do this.”

 

Otabek and Yuri took off the satchels they’d been carrying and left them a safe distance away. Yuri took nothing and Otabek took his sword and armour, which had been enchanted to keep the snow off and to keep Otabek warm. 

 

“Are you ready?” Otabek asked him. “I’ll signal when I go in. Remember to drop in at the right time, and to aim for its eyes if you can.”

 

Yuri nodded, then flew up again. Otabek moved to the front of the cave’s entrance before stopping. He paused for a bit, as if to gather his nerves, and took a few deep breaths before looking up. Yuri shot him a quick thumbs up, and with an expression that might have been a smile, Otabek stepped inside. The time for planning and debating was over, this was the real thing. 

 

He didn’t know what he’d expected to happen, but nothing was not it. The next few seconds were passed in silence, the space where Otabek had once been now empty now matter how hard Yuri looked. It was torture hovering over all this ash and smoke, the wait excruciating. Yuri couldn’t help all the thoughts bouncing in his head like bunnies. How long did it take to reach the dragon, anyway? Was Otabek already in the middle of the lair? Was he already dead?

 

Just as the last thought reached him, Yuri heard a muffled roar from beneath his feet. Terrified, he flinched away before realizing that the dragon was trapped beneath and couldn’t actually reach him. Still, his thoughts flew into a frenzy, whatever common sense he had disappearing. He had, he supposed, gotten his answer, except it wasn’t much of one. He didn’t know what had happened, but he hoped Otabek had survived it. More than hoped, he prayed it was so, despite having felt heat momentarily flare up beneath him, even with all the layer of rock separating them. 

 

The smoke did not ebb, however. Yuri heard another roar, this time louder than the first, and hurriedly made his way over to the hole, but it still didn’t completely go away. 

 

“Come on, come on,” He muttered. “How long does it take for you to air out, huh? Vanish!” 

 

Then finally, when the clouds had sort of reduced to wisps, Yuri sent a burst of cool air down to clear it and flew in. There was a horrifying, dishabilitating moment where he couldn’t see in the tunnel, it was too dark, but before long he burst into the cave’s insides, which was almost dazzling in its splendour. 

 

Not much light seeped into the space, but what little revealed an amazing sight. Heaps of gold lay around the room, mountains of treasures as far as the eye could see- bold rubies, sparkling diamonds, emeralds as green as summer grass. 

 

And in the middle of it all, a dragon. A furious, fire-spitting dragon, all sharp claws and red eyes and teeth, baring his fangs and letting out another roar. It was the size of three houses and looked like it’d wrap around a castle turret easily. Covered in jet black scales, the only hint of colour on its surface were the red tips of its spikes, which trailed from head to tail. The small part of Yuri’s brain that was not completely frozen in terror remarked that it resembled a very large, very poisonous lizard, which in a way he supposed it was. 

 

This close to the ceiling, Yuri had an excellent vantage point of the room and could barely make out what had the dragon in such a frenzy. Dashing between its legs, barely avoiding getting trampled on, was an ash-covered figure waving a sword. Otabek. Otabek was alive. Yuri felt a great burst of relief, followed by panic when he realized he had to act, followed by more panic when he realized they’d never established a signal for when Yuri would attack it. How would Otabek know he was to get out of the way? How would Yuri decide? What was their plan again?

 

Before he had too much time to panic, however, Otabek made a mad bid for the entrance. The dragon, apparently not liking that, ran after him. Yuri’s heart leapt into his throat when he realized Otabek was going too slow. He heard Otabek yelp as the dragon sent a burst of fire down the corridor and barely restrained himself from trying to pass the dragon. 

 

Stumbling out the entrance, Otabek barely made it five steps before collapsing, the back of his armour singed. The dragon stomped towards him, apparently satisfied enough in its kill that it didn’t see a point in fire anymore. If Yuri wanted to act, this was his last chance. “Hey! Up here!”

 

The dragon’s head snapped up, its head turning towards Yuri. It turned out to be a terrible mistake because it ended up looking straight at the sun. At that moment, Yuri struck. He sent a downwards slice of magic, the closest thing he had to a sword, towards the dragon’s eyes. In the same instant, the dragon’s tail swung sideways and knocked Otabek off the path. 

 

“Otabek!” Fear gripped him with black claws as Yuri saw the knight plummet down. Without thinking Yuri tore after him, flying as fast as he could in order to catch up. It was hard work. Wind pushed against him, roaring his ears as his heart pounded rapidly in his chest. He reached his arms out and managed to grab a hold of the other, albeit awkwardly. The knight was heavy. It took all of Yuri’s strength to steady them both, trying not to touch the part of Otabek’s armour that had been burnt. Thankfully the metal hadn’t melted all the way through and Otabek seemed more disoriented than anything. Now they just had to land somewhere and- wait, was the dragon dead?

 

Yuri sent a furtive glance up, praying to all the woodland spirits that they’d succeeded. But doubt pooled in his stomach, stuck in his throat like sticky toffee he’d had once, and he found it hard to believe that after all the rumours it’d be this easy, despite how much he wanted it to be. 

 

And just like he feared, another roar shook the sky. Yuri instinctively dove left, narrowly avoiding a burst of fire that would have fried him to crisp. He cursed, dread threatening to tear up his insides. It hadn’t worked, Otabek was injured, and the dragon was angry- what did they do now? 

 

_ Get to the ground,  _ thought Yuri. He could feel his fingers slipping across the metal, his arms barely managing to support Otabek’s weight. Despite how hard he tried to flap his wings more, it did nothing to stop their slow descend downwards. He needed to get them both to safe ground so Otabek could stand. Hopefully before- 

 

Another jet of fire. 

 

- _ that _ happened. Yuri risked a glance up as he dove around the side of the mountain, trying to get out of the dragon’s range. The creature shook his head and tried to follow, claws grasping the side of the mountain and wings beginning to spread.  _ No, no don’t do that! _

 

After practically dropping to the nearest path, Yuri spun around and cast a binding spell. The land on either side of the dragon crackled as vines burst forth, wrapping around the creature’s legs and pinning it in place. The dragon let out an angry roar, baring its teeth at the sky and sending more fire upwards. 

 

“Where’s my sword?” 

 

Yuri spun around to find Otabek looking at the ground. He looked dazed, blinking a few times before Yuri managed to pull him up. 

 

“I don’t know,” Yuri said, his heart sinking. Before he could panic too much, he saw a random stick lying nearby. Taking the chance that the dragon was still too annoyed by the vines to focus on them at this instant, he ran over to it and muttered a spell. It made his head hurt- fuck, he spent way too much energy earlier- but the result was a sword nearly identical to Otabek’s old one. He tossed it at him. “Here, take this instead.”

 

Otabek caught the hilt. “So what’s the plan now?”

 

“Do I look like I know what I’m doing?” Yuri said. “Because I don’t. I don’t get it. The book said the eyes were its weak points, but my spell didn’t even seem to do anything!”

 

“No, it did,” Otabek said, pointing. “Look.” 

 

Yuri turned just as the dragon’s head swung back around. Squinting, he could just barely make out its face. While most of the dragon looked as untouchable as ever, one of its eyes had gone a glassy white. As a result, it seemed to be a little off balance- he saw it rip through the vines and nearly topple off the mountainside, before shrilling hissing and digging its claws in deeper. Furious, it sent another blast of fire at the sky. 

 

“Well,” said Yuri. “Now it’s literally blinded.”

 

“Think you could get the other eye?” Otabek asked.

 

But Yuri didn’t have time to reply, because at that moment the dragon finally broke free of the remaining vines and set off after them. It didn’t take off, thankfully, but it did make their way towards them at an alarming pace, its size allowing it to cross the distance in seconds. 

 

“Scatter!” He yelled, and they dived in two different directions. Yuri flew off the mountain while Otabek dove deeper into the path. The dragon followed Yuri, perhaps assessing him to be the bigger threat. It would have been flattering if flames weren’t coming at him. 

 

Ducking and dodging, Yuri tried to get its head turned away from Otabek and back towards the sun. Unfortunately, they’d reversed positions and Yuri was the one whose eyesight was being affected. A shield snapped in front of Yuri moments before heat blazed past him, hotter than anything he’d ever sensed before. It came down like a torrent of lightning, and Yuri could only hold on for so long. Unable to hold it up, Yuri was blasted back just as the fire started to die. He spun backwards for a while before he managed to straighten himself up, narrowly avoiding another stream of fire. 

 

_ Fuck. Where was Otabek? _

 

Is this how the knight had felt when he was waiting for Yuri to arrive? Because it fucking sucked. 

 

The dragon’s neck was like a snake. No matter how much Yuri twisted it followed him, and most of the times it was faster. Yuri had to keep retreating, constantly casting shield spells to defend himself. Before long, its neck had almost stretched taut, and it was clearly considering flying after him. Its wings began to spread. 

 

Then a lot of things happened at once. 

 

Yuri’s direction was off, putting him dangerously close to one of the dragon’s teeth. 

 

The dragon head snapped forwards, obviously about to eat him. 

 

And Otabek came barreling out of fucking nowhere, descending from a point above them like some sort of vengeful god, leaping onto the dragon’s back and plunging the sword down. 

 

The dragon let out an ear-splitting shriek. Yuri barely managed to get out of the way before flame encased half the mountain, the product of the dragon’s fury. He heard Otabek yelp. The knight had miraculously managed to stay on the dragon’s back through the blast, but that ended quickly once the dragon realized it was so. The sword he’d held was still stuck in the dragon. Black blood oozed from the wound, but it didn’t seem serious. It was not, as would have been ideal, a killing blow, could never have been because of the scales. Otabek had never intended to kill the dragon, Yuri realized. He saw that Yuri was about to die and wanted to buy some time. It was a last ditch effort to save him. 

 

The dragon slammed itself against the mountain and Otabek went tumbling down its back. By some stroke of luck, he landed on one of its paths, but the dragon quickly cornered him, hissing steam from its nostrils. Otabek had no choice but to back himself against the wall. His armour was battered and he’d lost his sword again, and he must have known he was about to die. 

 

Yuri had never been so scared. 

 

( _ Will you come back? _ )

 

( _ Yes, I promise. _ )

 

No, not again, never again. He never wanted to feel that way again- helpless one time, then helpless the next-

 

( _ Are we friends?) _

 

_ (Yes, if you want to be.) _

 

Otabek could not die. Yet they were here, at the very edge, and the dragon did not stop-

 

( _ I do want more than that, you know? _ )

 

( _ I see. And what, besides a kingdom, do you want? _ )

 

(You.)

 

After all they’d been through, all the things they’d done, all the conversations they’d had- wait. Their conversations. That was it. 

 

Yuri’s mounting hysteria stuttered to a stop. His thoughts become clearer, trying to organize themselves. One of the very first conversations they’d had after setting out from their Quest- they’d fought bandits and then they’d talked, and Yuri had talked about-

 

Teleportation. Transporting something from one place to another. 

 

They were on the mountain now, but did they have to be? If he could take them somewhere else, somewhere the dragon would be at disadvantage, if he could take  _ it near water _ ….

 

But he’d never learned how! And a dragon was  _ huge _ . It was a crazy plan, yet, with dread inching up his throat, Yuri knew he had no choice. Otabek had leapt onto the dragon’s back to save him, he could do the same. This was their last gamble.  _ They were out of time. _ The dragon opened its mouth, Otabek closed his eyes, and- 

 

-and Yuri took a deep breath, summoned all his remaining energy, and cast a spell. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this in three and a half days, I'm not gonna lie. First there were exams and then I spent July in summer school and then this week I sat my ass down and died. Yay. I'm pretty sure I contradicted my own writing in this chapter at least three times, but....
> 
> Good news, though (or bad news depending how you look at it) we're nearly at the end? Next chapter is going to be the final battle and we might end there (or we might not). Depends on if I want to add an epilogue. But I will keep writing! I have a policy of finishing major projects before I start a new one so I have a long, long list of fics I want to write once this is done. Here's to the future!


End file.
